The New Element
by Soleneus
Summary: Destiny is a funny thing, and sometimes, it's not always what you think it is. A mysterious new character has entered the Avatar World, and things will never be the same...not for anyone.
1. The New Element

The Avatar and the User

**A/N: This is the re-deaux of the Sennin and the Avatar. He popped into my head yesterday, and I couldn't stop writing it until I finished. I hope you enjoy it.**

**As a note, mostly everyone in this story is older, including the main cast.**

**Also, I am working on the next chapter for Legacy, as well as JotWE, so don't worry. If you're a new fan, sorry, but this kinda shit happens a lot with me.**

Two men stood on both sides of a large, opulent door, their burnished gold and crimson armor flickering in the dim torchlight, the flame motif matching the portal exactly. Their hands were gripping the handles of unwieldy ceremonial pikes, the gold far too heavy to be used as an actual weapon.

They stiffened at the sound of heavy cloth brushing across the ornamentally tiled floor. The sound came from a figure, so swathed in a black cloak that the fringes fluttered across the floor, trailing a small cloud of dust behind him. A sharply beaked hood hid his face in shadow, leaving nothing to be discerned by anyone else.

As approached the door, the two guards lowered their stances and dropped the pikes into an x-formation across the door, barring the way.

"Halt, Stranger!" One of them spoke in a loud, commanding tone. "What business do you have with in the royal palace at this time?"

The figure spoke in voice that managed to be soft and sibilant, but deep and threatening at the same time. "I have an appointment with the one who sits on the Ember Throne."

The guards stood again, bring their pikes back into position. "Proceed." They both said.

The man strode passed them with a confident jaunt, pulled the handle of the left-hand door open slightly, and vanished within like a shadow.

As soon as the door shut solidly, both of the guards relaxed with sighs of relief. "Spirits, I've seen that guy come and go four times, and every time he manages to creep me right out of my skin."

The other responded with a slight chuckle. "What do you expect? He's the Fire Lords 'Fixer' after all. If you weren't such a coward, maybe you wouldn't shake like a leaf in his presence."

"Shut up, Chang."

…

_Inside…_

It was dark inside the throne room, giving it an ominous feel that was similar to walking into an abyss. The throne was brightly lit, though not as bright as it would be during the daytime. This gave it the illusion that it was the only thing in the room, playing on the psychological effect of the being the only thing that mattered.

The throne was simple, four crimson pillars that had golden dragons flying along them. Sitting underneath the dragon's tails as they made the roof, was a man.

He had his hair pulled into a topknot, held tightly in place by a ceremonial headpiece of golden flames. The man himself was tall and strong, his amber eyes cunning and alight with barely hidden anger.

"Welcome, Assassin." His voice was silky and smooth, like poisoned wine.

The Assassin simply bowed.

The Fire lord narrowed his eyes, but spoke again. "I have called you here to fulfill your purpose again. There is an enemy who has raised his head with power to defeat me…if left untouched, that is."

The assassin crossed his arms and asked, "Who holds the power to de-throne the most powerful Firebender on the planet?"

The fire around the throne flared as the Fire Lord's anger peaked. "The Avatar. He has shown his head once again, daring to fight against me."

The cloaked man nodded once. "And what does this have to do with me?"

The Fire Lord snapped his fingers. Two servants garbed in fine clothes befitting their stations as butlers of the Fire Lord stepped out of the shadows of the throne, both carrying heavy chests, inlaid with gold and precious jewels.

They set the chests on the ground, before pulling back the clasps and opening them to reveal their contents.

Gold shined with in, rows and rows of the expensive metal.

"Double your usual fare at the usual rate. You will receive half now, and the rest when you present the Avatar's head to me on a platter." The Fire Lord smirked as he saw the Assassin fixate on the gold. What mercenary could resist such temptation?

The Assassin strode forward and closed the lid of one chest, picking it up with ease belying it's weight and size, before it disappeared into the folds of his cloak. "You have piqued my interest, Lord Ozai. I will see to it that you receive his head, arrows and all."

The Fire Lord hid a jubilant smile. His plan was succeeding. "Very good. He was last seen heading to the Northern Water Tribe, in the company of two Southern Water Tribal's. Admiral Zhao is sailing the largest Armada in Fire Nation history to conquer the Northern tribe as we speak. He will distract the Avatar, allowing you to do what you do best."

The assassin bowed. "It will be done." He exited the room via a different door than he entered, leaving the Fire Lord to smile widely.

All according to plan.

…

_Outside of the Throne Room…_

Once the door to the throne room had closed, the Assassin sighed heavily and rubbed his head. "Spirits, I hate that guy."

His voice was different, no longer sibilant, but still deep.

He strode through the halls with a purpose, dodging late-night servants who were cleaning the floors quietly. He came upon one specific room, glancing around to check if the coast was clear, before slipping inside silently and locking the door behind him.

In the room, sitting next to her bed, brushing her long ebony hair with an ornamental brush and humming a soft tune, was Azula, crown Princess of the Fire Nation and Heir to the Throne. She smiled as she watched the shadowy figure approach her from behind.

He took the brush from her hands and sat behind her, beginning to brush her hair himself.

"So, how did the meeting with my father go?" She asked in a soft and warm tone.

The assassin sighed in exasperation. "I hate that guy so much, Azula. I want to just kill the bastard whenever he speaks to me."

The Princess grabbed the hand with the brush gently, forcing him to stop. "I know the feeling all too well, my love. But don't fret, we will be rid of the treacherous bastard soon, if all goes according to our plan."

She stroked his hands gently as he ran his other hand through her hair. "Must you wear such cumbersome clothes whenever you visit?" She asked suddenly.

The man laughed. "Sorry about that. You know how much I dislike people staring at me."

Azula turned around in the seat, releasing his hands as she did, bringing them to his hood. She pulled it down gently, staring into his eyes as they were revealed.

They a sharp, but gentle blue, like cut sapphires set with obsidian. A trio of pale vertical scars ran over his right eye, with the orb itself undamaged.

His skin was tanned as if he spent much of his time in the sunlight without the heavy cloak on. He had a sharp nose and thin but full lips. Three whisker-like marks on each cheek gave him the appearance of a mischievous canine, and the twinkle in his eyes did nothing to debunk that. His hair was blonde and spiky, long enough to hang above his shoulders.

Azula rubbed the marks on his cheek, smiling as he made an almost animalistic purr. "I like looking at your face, Naruto. It makes me happy." She giggled in a girlish way that would leave her servants in shock.

He leaned forward and captured her lips with his, hands trailing up her sides to her hips, staying there and pushing her forward.

They broke apart after a minute, where he smiled at the breathless Princess. "And I like to make you happy, my Princess. Anything for you."

The Princess smiled in a warm, loving way. "Soon, my love, the war will end, my father will be gone and my mother will be back. And I'll be right by your side, even after we have accomplished our ambitions."

Naruto smiled and brushed a hand over her cheek. "And there will finally be peace, for all of us."

Azula gained a lustful glimmer in her eyes as she threw her hands around his neck. "You said you like making me happy, right Naruto?"

She leaned into his ear and whispered softly, "Then make me _happy._"

The force she used to throw herself at Naruto pitched them both off of the stool onto the ground, where they rolled around, giggles and shuffling echoing through the room.

…

_The Northern Water Tribe…_

As they floated on a boat through the ice capital of the Northern Water Tribe, Aang, Sokka and Katara could hardly believe the difference between the two tribes.

Whereas the Southern was a large floe covered in pitched tents, the Northern was made out of a large iceberg, carved by the greatest Waterbender artisans ever to grace the world.

As Appa, the large Sky Bison floated gently through the canals, the teenagers' heads would not stay still, looking at everything and anything in pure awe.

Katara's vision landed on a simple wooden gondola, two people sitting on it, seemingly in deep conversation that brought smiles to their faces. These two were unique out of all the people she had seen, and that was saying something.

The woman had long white hair that was curled and held upon her head in an intricate bun, and she wore the thick fur coat that most Waterbenders wear, though it seemed to by of higher quality than normal.

The man had spiky golden hair that hung above his shoulders freely, with tanned skin that was nowhere as dark as those of the Water Tribe, but seemed to be more colorful, somehow.

He wore odd robes that Katara had never seen before. They were thick with many layers, and colored in a palette of white, dark blue and black.

As she watched, the man's eyes met hers as he turned his head, leaving her feeling her cheeks flushing. His eyes were like sapphires, a lighter blue than her own but still startlingly blue.

A small smile crossed his face as she winked at her, before turning back to the white-haired woman next to him.

The gondola passed out of sight around a corner, and a breathy sigh next to her made Katara jump in surprise.

Her brother, Sokka, lay next to her on Appa's furry beaver-like tail, watching with a blush on his face as the two disappeared. "Man, she's like an angel…" He murmured longingly.

Katara gazed at her brother in worry. Was that what she looked like? That was creepy as hell.

As they passed under a bridge, a shadow passed over them, landing with a slight thump into Appa's saddle, making enough noise to alert Aang, Sokka, Katara and Momo, their flying lemur.

Sitting in the saddle with a grin on his face was the blonde man, looking for all the world like he had been there the entire time. "Welcome to the Northern Water Tribe!"

Aang hopped from Appa's head into the saddle with an excited grin. "Hi! My name's Aang! It's nice to meet you!"

The stranger smiled and held his hand out to Aang, who shook it enthusiastically. "My name's Naruto. I'm a traveler visiting Chief Arnook for a while. Who are you two?"

The last question was directed to Sokka and Katara, who blushed at the attention she was getting from the handsome man. "I'm Katara, daughter of Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe. And this is my brother, Sokka."

Naruto smiled at them happily. "Well it's nice to meet you guys. I've heard many stories about the travels of the Avatar and his friends, though I think they lied about one important aspect."

Sokka scowled. That was his manliness on the line here! "Oh yeah?"

The blonde man brought a hand up to Katara's face, running a finger down her cheek, making her blush heavier than before. "They obviously downplayed how beautiful you are, Katara. They said you were a pretty, down-to-earth girl, but I can see they were lying."

Katara felt hurt for that, and her brother and Aang scowled, though for different reasons. "They obviously didn't realize that you are angel sent from heaven because the Spirits were jealous of your beauty, the fools." He continued in a soft tone.

Katara's blush came back full force, while Sokka and Aang scowled again, though for very different reasons.

Naruto seemed to come back to himself, and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Ahem. Anyways, I'll see you guys at the banquet. Enjoy the city."

He stood and jumped from the saddle, landing on one of the ice streets and walking away, though not before waving.

Katara touched her cheek in what seemed like awe, before both Sokka and Aang muttered, "I don't like him."

…

_That Night…_

The three teenagers sat at their table of honor in the grand banquet hall, directly to the left of the Chief's table, where he sat with by himself, waiting for the hall to quite down.

Once the chatting had subsided, he stood and proudly raised his arms high. "My fellow Tribesmen! It is with great honor that I present to you…the Avatar, and our brother and sister from the Southern Water Tribe!"

The hall rang with cheers as the three stood and bowed, before sitting once again.

Arnook spoke up again. "And now, to show our appreciation of their visit, a show of Waterbending skill from our greatest Benders, Master Paku and his students, including my daughter Yue and her fiancée!"

Several pots were placed in a row behind Arnook, filled to the brim with water. Master Paku, a man with a stern face and balding head, followed by several of his students, both male and female, strode before the hall and bowed, before beginning their show.

First, they bent the water into a myriad of intricate shapes and designs, using the multiplicity of their numbers to do more together than they could do alone.

The student's finale was a mock battle of hurling ice shards at each other, barely dodging the deadly spikes as they passed near their bodies.

Then, the white-haired woman jumped from behind a dais of ice, pulling the ice back into water and beginning a fierce battle with Waterbending.

Without warning, a roaring dragon made of rushing water burst through the dais, drawing ooh's and aah's from the crowd as the two Waterbenders began to battle the dragon.

Naruto appeared underneath the dragon, obviously controlling it with a fierce look. The dragon hit Master Paku and pitched him across the hall, where he flipped and hit the ground, pretending to be unconscious.

The woman and Naruto battled it out for about ten minutes, before she created a heart made of clear ice that enchanted the dragon, who wrapped around it protectively, giving off one last roar before being turned to ice by both Naruto and the woman.

The hall rang with cheers as Naruto, Paku and the woman-who was obviously Yue- bowed in front of the crowd. Whistles broke out as Naruto grabbed Yue and held her perpendicular to the ground, kissing her full on the mouth.

While Aang cheered, Sokka scowled and Katara felt her heart drop. When they came back up, Naruto waved to hall along with Yue, though her eyes locked onto Katara's, and she winked.

The Southern Water Tribe girl blinked confusedly and the white-haired Bender mouthed 'Later'.

…

_Later That Night…_

Katara paced next to an ice bridge, about two blocks outside of the apartment they had been given, waiting for Yue to show.

A hand descended on her shoulder, surprising her and causing her to jump and spin, hands coming up in the beginning Waterbender stance, only to realize that the person behind her was the one she was waiting for.

"Oh, sorry…um…what did you want to talk about?" She stammered for a moment.

Yue smiled gently. "I saw the way you looked at Naruto today, on the gondola and at the banquet. I know when someone's enamored with my betrothed; I've seen it plenty of times."

Katara blushed heavily, nearly fainting from the rush of blood. "Uh, um…sorry?"

Yue giggled gently, a delicate hand over her mouth. "There's need to be sorry, Katara. I know Naruto is very handsome, and it's not your fault to feel like that. But let me tell you something…"

_[Flashback]_

"_Naruto," Chief Arnook asked, with a small tremor of nervousness in his voice, "I need to ask you a favor…"_

_Naruto smiled and clapped the burly chieftain on the shoulder. "Unless you're asking to borrow more money, you have no reason to be afraid, Arnook."_

_The Chief laughed nervously. "Right, right…anyways, how do you like Yue?"_

_Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "She's a very kind, sweet and caring girl. She'll make a very lucky man very happy someday. Why do you ask?"_

_Arnook scratched at his beard, refusing to meet Naruto's eyes. "How would you like to be that very lucky man?"_

_The blonde gave him an incredulous look. "Are you seriously suggesting that I marry your daughter, a girl I've never talked to for more than ten minutes at a time?"_

_Arnook sighed and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, turning to face him for the first time. "I know it's a lot to ask, but I'm desperate! Han's family is pushing for a marriage and they're gaining support!"_

_Naruto shook his head. "And what's that problem with that?"_

_The Chief fell to his knees and cried out, "I hate that kid! He thinks that, because his family is one of the more affluent families in our Tribe that he's entitled to everything! He's arrogant, mouthy, and not even a Waterbender! The times I've watched him fight, he shouts out his intentions and pays for it! He's an idiot!"_

_Naruto pried the Chief's vice-gripped hands off of the front of his robes, before throwing his hands in the air. "Alright, fine! I'll do it!"_

_Arnook began to literally cry with happiness. "Thank the Spirits! Thank you so much!"_

_The blonde actually struggled to push the chieftain off of him, before he thrust an upright finger in his face. "But!" He shouted seriously. "I want to see if we connect! If we don't, and I'm not saying we won't, she has the right to choose whoever she wants."_

_Arnook wiped his eyes and nodded happily. "Alright, alright. Let's introduce you for real, huh?"_

_Naruto nodded with a sigh. "Alright. Let's go."_

_The two men walked through the ice palace, heading for the center, where a large hot spring sat, surrounded by plant life. Against the wall, leaning back with an anxious look on her face was the white-haired princess, an average looking Tribal uncomfortably close to her face._

_He seemed to be bragging to her about his prowess in the bedroom, something she would get a 'taste of when he became chief'._

_Arnook's face became red with anger, and he stormed over to Han, grabbed him by the back of his collar and pulled him off of his daughter._

"_What do you think you're doing?!" He roared angrily._

_Han cowered before the Saber-Toothed Moose-Lion that was Arnook, before pulling a small amount of spine out of his ass. "Watch how you handle me, Arnook! My family owns half of the Tribe!"_

_If possible, the chief's face became even redder. "Why you little-!"_

_Naruto hopped in between, somewhat fearing for Han's life. Somewhat, because he didn't really like Han and it'd be kind of funny to watch the Chief rip him apart with his bare hands. "Whoa! Hold on there! Cool off a little, Chief. You can't kill him, no matter how appealing and relaxing it may be."_

_He then turned around as Arnook went through a few breathing exercises. He picked Han up, setting him on his feet and brushing him down. "Now, why don't you leave and let the chief cool off before he does something he might regret at some point in the very distant future, okay?"_

_Han 'hmphed' and straightened his collar imperiously. "I won't let some peasant tell one of the richest men in the Northern Water Tribe what to do! Get out of my way!"_

_He threw his hands out to push Naruto out of the way, but the blonde was tired of his attitude. _

_He knocked one of Han's hands aside, grabbing the other and twisting it behind his back, making the arrogant punk cry out in pain. "Alright, I tried to be nice, but if you're gonna be a little ass, I'm going to treat you like one, so listen carefully."_

_He leaned over until his mouth was close to Han's ear. "You may think that having money will make me not want to hurt you; you're very wrong. If I see you pushing yourself on another woman, _any_ woman, I will cut off what makes you somewhat of a man and will cauterize the wound when you are still conscious. Do you understand me, punk?"_

_Han nodded quickly, whimpering in pain. Naruto muttered, "Good." And pushed him away._

_Han was not done yet, however. He pulled a curved bone knife from his sleeve and hurled it at Naruto's back with a roar._

_Within the blink of an eye, Naruto's hand had flashed up and caught the knife, which had not even come close to hitting Naruto's back, instead almost going over his shoulder, where it would've hit Yue._

_Han gaped before shuddering in fear as visions of his death in various violent ways began to flash before his vision. Naruto approached him with the knife held tightly in his grip, the bone audibly cracking. _

_He kneed Han in the stomach, then the nose, before grabbing his right hand and twisting it out to the side, where he drove the knife deeply into Han's shoulder, eliciting a scream of pain from the weak Tribal. _

"_I just severed one of the most important tendons in your shoulder for moving the arm. You may get healed, but will never be able to use it to it's full range again." He hissed menacingly. "And the best part is? I can't be punished for it. By the Laws of the Northern Water Tribe, I could legally kill you for not only attacking me, but almost hurting the Princess. You should be glad I'm only hurting you like this."_

_A hard chop to the back of Han's neck knocked him clean out, and he collapsed to the ground bonelessly. Naruto took the blade in both hands, giving it a vicious twist, shattering the bone blade into shards._

_Behind Arnook, Yue gasped. The blade was a traditional weapon, given to sons by their fathers when they were believed ready to be a warrior. Breaking one of those signified that he wasn't worthy of being a warrior any more._

_Naruto turned back to Yue with a slightly ashamed look on his face. "I'm very sorry Princess Yue, for losing control like that. I hope you can forgive me."_

_The white-haired Princess looked pensive for a moment, before she smiled a tentative smile. "There's nothing to forgive, Naruto. If you hadn't caught that blade, I could have been seriously injured. I should be thanking you."_

_Naruto smiled, relieved. "Thank you, princess."_

_Yue giggled into her hand. "You can call me Yue, Naruto."_

_Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously. "Can we, maybe, get to know each other better? From what I've seen, you're a very sweet and caring girl, and I like to get to know you better."_

_The princess blushed, before nodding shyly. "I'd like that."_

_[End]_

Yue smiled in remembrance, her hand going to the choker around her neck. "Three months later, he carved this necklace for me."

She showed the necklace to Katara. It was a made of bone, carved in the shape of a spiraling whirlpool.

"He was so sweet to me. Nervous whenever we went out, always being the perfect gentleman…it was so nice after being handled with kid gloves most of my life." She said, smiling softly.

Katara scrunched her face in thought, a look that was very cute on her. "But what does that have to do with me?"

Yue giggled, already imagining the look on Katara's face. "Well, Naruto has a situation were he's taking on multiple wives, if only to satisfy the various lords around the Nations and his need for love."

She leaned into Katara's ear and whispered, "And I don't mind sharing."

Katara nearly fainted from the blood rushing to her head. "But what about Naruto?"

Yue outright laughed. "He's a male! What do you think he thinks about it?"

…

_The Next Day…_

The next day, the three teenagers involved in Aang's quest to master the elements were stopped in the search for Master Paku by a long line of people, wrapping about half-way around the block, originating at a building that had steam wafting from the inside.

Aang poked a Tribal in the back, making him spin around to identify the one prodding him. "Oh! Avatar Aang, what can I do for you?"

The young Avatar peered over the line of chatting and impatient people, asking, "What's going on? Why are there so many people waiting outside of this building?"

The Tribal blinked at them blankly, before remembering that they had arrived yesterday. "Oh, it's Naruto. He runs a massage clinic when he visits, and they're god-send after weeks of hard work. He does this thing with hot stones that just relaxes you to the point of sleeping." The Tribal stared off into space, seemingly lost in his recollections of the experience.

The Gaang gave him a strange look, before deciding to check it out for themselves. They walked ahead of the line, through the doorway to see four Tribesmen and women lying on their fronts, wearing only a towel draped over their backsides to cover their modesty.

A collection of hot stones rested on their backs as gentle harp music played in the background.

Naruto himself was standing next to a woman, holding a smooth stone between the palms of his hands. A small glow suffused his hands, before he took them away and placed it on the woman's back, eliciting an almost aroused moan of pleasure from the woman.

Sokka's sharp eyes noticed the technique he used to heat the stone, and his eyes went wide as he pointed dramatically at Naruto.

"You're a Firebender?!" He shouted loudly.

Naruto smiled and nodded. "Kinda."

"Bu-b-b-but we SAW you Waterbend last night! No one except the Avatar can do both!" Sokka declared loudly.

One of Naruto's clients grumbled out, "Would you shut up, kid? No one cares if he's a Firebender."

A series of affirmatives sounded out from all of the other clients. Naruto shrugged. "I'm not really a Firebender, or a Waterbender. Or really any other kind of bender. The Avatar can bend all the elements, and is pretty much the link between our world and the Spirit world. Me, on the other hand…well let's just say I'm special and leave it at that. I have a special power that allows me to bend all of the elements, some of which are not called elements here, such as metal, wood or crystal."

The three gaped at him, but only Katara looked thoughtful. _That's what Yue was talking about last night…_

Aang moved his jaw soundlessly, before weakly whispering, "What?"

Naruto shrugged again. "I don't really know why, it's just something I'm able to do."

Katara tapped her chin thoughtfully. "So you know how to use all of the styles?"

The blonde nodded. "Yeah. I've trained for years to master my abilities, so I know most of the styles."

The Southern Water Tribe girl perked up. "So does that mean you could teach Aang and I Waterbending?"

He shrugged again. "Probably, though I am more of a jack-of-all-trades, I really don't specialize in one discipline. You'd want a master to learn from, though I could teach you a few things."

Katara and Aang's eyes began to shine and as happy grins spilt their faces. Naruto gave them a weird look before clapping his hands. "Alright you guys, switch with the other group in the hotsprings, tell them to get out and get dressed or I'll dump ice water on their heads."

He thrust his hand into the air and clenched his fist, the rocks flying from the Tribesmen's backs and gathering in front of him. "Look, if you and Aang want some tips, I'd be happy to give them. But I'm kinda busy right now, so unless you want to wait in line for a long time for a massage, you could find something else to do."

Naruto began to think. "Although…Katara, I could use your help. I could teach you a few things about the healing aspects of Waterbending. I use most of them in my massage techniques."

Katara's eyes began to sparkle once again. "Really?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't see why not."

The girl pumped a fist into the air and whooped. "Yes!"

…

_Three Days Later…_

"Now, on of the most difficult things to master as a bender, of any discipline, is high-speed movement, or even flight." Naruto lectured to Aang and Katara, who stared at him with rapt attention. "Now, when I mean flight, I mean without the use of tools, like Aang's Glider Staff. Just using pure elemental manipulation to fly. The easiest one to use is fire, as the propulsion aspects make it easier to move through the air. For example,"

Naruto crouched and jumped, ejecting fire out of the bottom of his feet so that he hovered above them, not touching the ground at all. He cut the fire, landing on the slightly melted ice with a thump. "See? Now, it's a lot harder with Waterbending. A master of Waterbending, to fly, would have to bend water out of the thin air to the bottom of their feet, using it as a platform of sorts to jump. To go even farther, a master would be able to bend the water molecules out of the air in front of them, making them jump farther."

"Now Naruto, you're not trying to teach my students advanced bending techniques, are you?" A stern yet amused vice said from their right. It was Master Paku, watching Naruto trying to teach them about master-level techniques.

"Of course not, Paku! I'm simply demonstrating the possibilities of mastering the aspect of control in bending forms." Naruto replied without a beat.

The old man chuckled. "Well, I doubt you will need to give Katara many pointers. I've never had such a prodigious student before. It is my bet that within the week, Katara will be a master in her own right." The Southern Tribeswoman smiled proudly. "Aang, however…"

The young Airbender was manipulating a snow ball through the air, laughing while Momo chased after it in a frenzy.

Naruto shook his head and chuckled. "Just make him know how important it is for him to learn this, or make it fun. I think that would keep his attention for awhile."

Katara, blushing slightly, spoke up. "Hey, Naruto? I think I may have pulled a muscle in my back. Can you help me get rid of it?"

The blonde laughed loudly, grinning widely. "Of course Katara! Any excuse for helping you out!"

The Waterbender flushed brightly while Aang rolled in the snow, making a snow angel.

…

_Four Days Later…_

Naruto, Yue and Katara were sitting outside of a small café, sipping hot tea, before something grey and clumped together fell from the sky into Naruto's cup.

He peered into the tea, watching as a clump of ash mixed with snow melted in the hot liquid. His visage became stony as the girls stiffened. "It's seems it's that time…" he muttered to himself, though the girls easily caught it. He stood from the table and raised his voice as more ash fell form the sky. "Sound the general alarm! Bring those unable to fight to the shelters and ready the warriors! Make your way to the gathering points!"

A horn rang out through the village, and the young, old and unable to fight were escorted to shelters hidden in various points around the village. About an hour later, the first ships of the Fire Nation Armada were spotted entering the village's sight, and they didn't stop coming. The fleet was so massive that the sea was filled with metal warships, the black smoke puffing from the smoke stacks.

Several skiffs, small, flat rafts that were propelled by Waterbending, with a team of Waterbenders on each, skimmed over the sea. The Waterbenders worked in concert, creating large spikes of ice that punched through the bottom of the Fire Nation ships, disabling them.

For the ones they disabled, another two took it's place.

With a single command, every ship fired the onboard ballistae, throwing heavy lit stones and clay pots full of fire.

The projectiles sailed through the air, leaving smoke trails so thick that they nearly blocked out the moon.

Arnook stood next to several rows of Waterbenders, each of them in the same stance, including Arnook himself, Katara, Naruto and Aang.

"Wait for it…" He muttered to himself, "Wait for it…NOW!"

At his command, every Waterbender went through the same series of movements, ending with a surge of water shooting upwards, forming into a large shield of thick ice.

The projectiles smashed into the shield, only a few of them getting through, the majority being blocked entirely. The fleet drew closer, readying to drop troops over the walls and begin the sacking of the Northern Water Tribe.

"Aang! Katara! Head to the Spirit Oasis! Protect the Koi at any cost!" Naruto shouted at the two.

"But what about you?" Katara yelled back as they ran to the Oasis.

"I'll catch up later, don't worry!" He reassured her with a wink, before turning to wall, where the ships began to drop the heavy metal doors in the front of the ships. "It's time to fight."

…

_The Spirit Oasis…_

Yue and Sokka sat nervously around the Oasis, watching the two koi fish circle each other in the water. The sounds of battle made them sweat heavily, worry evident on their faces.

The sound of footsteps on the bridge made them jump, before the voices of Aang and Katara made them sigh in relief.

Yue noticed that someone was missing, more precisely, her fiancée. "Where's Naruto?" She asked worriedly.

Aang sat next to Oasis with a look of concentration on his face. "He said he was going to catch up! I going to ask the Spirits if they'll help us with the invasion, watch my body!"

Within a minute, Aang had slumped over, dead asleep.

The two Water Tribe women watched over Aang worriedly, before a cry of pain originating from Sokka startled them.

The Water Tribal lay at the feet of a tall man, his head bald except for the top knot on his head. He had a heavily scarred eye, and the remnants of cuts and bruising littered his face. It looked like he had been in the middle of an explosion.

"The Avatar is away from his body…perfect." He said in a low, dangerous voice.

Katara scowled at the Fire Nation Prince. "Zuko!"

Yue gave them both strange looks. "You know him?"

Katara nodded sharply. "This maniac's been chasing us all around the world, trying to capture Aang!"

The two Princesses, from both Water Tribes, readied a Waterbending stance, making Zuko scoff. "What can to princesses do to me? I'm the heir to the throne of the Fire Nation!"

Yue and Katara gave each other determined looks, before hurling spikes of ice at Zuko, and the fight commenced.

Zuko quickly found himself overwhelmed. When ever he would attack, one of the girls would block while the other attacked, and he found himself dodging wildly, trying to avoid crushing attacks.

His anger became too much for him, and with an angry roar, he project a massive blast of fire at the two girls.

Embers of his attack floated through the air, and he felt a small hope that he had incinerated the two…before a whip of water shot out and smacked him right across the face.

Blinded by the water and pain, he didn't see the orb of high-speed water slam into his head, throwing him back into a wall of ice, where the two girls bent the water around him to form spikes that suspended him in the air. Zuko hung there, unconscious and limp.

Yue and Katara breathed a little easier, starting when Sokka groaned loudly. "Ugh…what happened?"

Katara laughed slightly in relief, before helping her brother to his feet. "Zuko knocked you out and tried to take Aang. Don't worry, Yue and I stopped him."

"As if stopping a banished prince is worth any merit."

A smooth and arrogant voice snarled from the bridge.

The three Tribal's spun around, coming to face nine men, one of the dressed in the armor of an Admiral, and the others in Elite Firebender Armor.

Before they could even think to fight, a dark figure appeared in between them, kicking them apart. With speed that they couldn't hope to fight, the three Water Tribe teens were dazed and unconscious on the ground.

The dark figure stood above Aang, malice glittering within ice-cold blue eyes. "And here's the Avatar…such a worthy prize."

Through the haze of pain, the voice Katara, Yue and Sokka heard seemed familiar, but they had never seen a man who wore a beaked hood or heavy black robes.

Behind the man, Zhao nodded at one of the elites, who unsheathed a dagger quietly and approached the hooded man silently.

The sound of a blade being sunk into flesh nearly made the three vomit, and the look of surprise on the Assassin's face as the light died from his eyes hurt their souls.

The Assassin collapsed to the ground, dead.

Zhao smirked nastily at the fallen man, before pulling a burlap sack from his armor. He bent over the Oasis, snatching the white koi from within and stuffing it into the sack.

The two Waterbenders felt a horrible drowning sensation as the world seemed to bleed away of all the color.

All around the North Pole, Waterbenders suddenly found themselves powerless.

Zhao guffawed loudly as he hefted the sack into the air. "Hahaha! At this moment, with this act, I have become Zhao the Conqueror! Zhao the Invincible! No one will stand in my way now!"

"Zhao!"

An angry shout stopped Zhao's monologue, coming from a large man with graying hair and a beard, and an enraged look on his normally relaxed face. "Iroh! I should have known your sympathies would get in the way of my conquest."

The large man, named Iroh dropped into an aggressive stance, anger evident on his features. "Zhao! Put the Spirit back, now! Harm a single scale on the koi and I will unleash the pain upon a thousand-fold!"

Zhao looked around himself, to see that Zuko, Katara, Yue, Sokka and Aang had gotten to their feet, all with stony visages and in threatening stances.

With a growl of anger, he opened the sack, allowing the White Koi to fall back into the water with a splash. The moon gained it's color back, as did the rest of the world.

Rage blossomed on Zhao's face, and before anyone could react, he swung his arm down with a roar, a blade of fire springing from his fingertips, descending on the unsuspecting koi.

A hand, covered in black, white and blue armor wrapped around Zhao's wrist, jerking it up and away, making the flames shoot up in the sky. Angry blue eyes narrowed onto Zhao's. "That's not going to happen!" Naruto shouted.

He bent Zhao's wrist to the side, delivering a punch to Zhao's stomach, twisted Zhao's arm over his head and roundhouse kicked the Admiral away.

Iroh leapt into action, four blasts of fire erupting from his fists into the Elite Firebender's faces, the metal crumpling around their heads.

Naruto dodged a strike from a Firebender, grabbing his wrist and twisting it behind his back, before wrapping an arm around his head and bending him back, kneeing him in the base of the spine, using the momentum to hurl him into another.

Naruto stopped another by punching him in the ribs, flipping him over his back, jumping and stomping on his ribs, before launching the Firebender into the last, whom Iroh chopped in the back of the neck.

"Naruto!" The Water Tribal's and Aang shouted happily.

The blonde smiled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry I'm late, I got caught up by a squad of Firebenders."

Iroh, now back to his usual attitude, laughed deeply. "On the contrary, Naruto, I think you got here right on time!"

The four teens looked confused as Naruto and Iroh traded laughs and jokes. "Whaat? How do you know him?"

Naruto pointed at Uncle questioningly. "Uncle? We've been friends for a long time. Hey, Iroh, did you get that tea I sent you for your birthday?"

Iroh began to drool at the thought of that tea. "Jasmine blackberry tea…so good…"

The blonde chuckled at that. "I guess so."

His face fell into an angry glare. "It's time to put an end to this invasion…and to my secrecy."

Sokka glanced at the others. "What do you mean?"

Naruto gave them a serious look. "I've been hiding as a mercenary working for the Fire Nation for a long time. It's time to show where my allegiances really lie."

He strode off over the bridge, Iroh following him. The other teens glanced at each other and shrugged unanimously, before following them as well.

Naruto walked to the top of the ice wall, watching as the Fire Nation ships hurled fire balls at the North Pole. A haze of energy appeared around him, and his roar echoed out.

"**ENOUGH!"**

All movement froze.

Naruto took a running leap off of the wall, water shooting out of the sea and creating a trail of ice in mid air, allowing him to skate through the air on a rampart of ice.

He trailed by several ships, fireballs flashing out of his hands and mouth, causing the munitions the Fire Nation used to explode, destroying several ships.

Naruto skated by more, blades of wind slicing through the metal hulls of the ships, sinking them quickly. He flipped off of one trail of ice, landing on another as a fireball fired from a ship smashed into the other.

He decimated the entire fleet with spears of ice, blades of wind and miniature suns fired from his mouth and hands, until there was only one ship left.

The Admiral's ship.

Zhao had just made it back from the Pole, having defeated Zuko by blinding him with snow and then melting the bridge underneath him. He climbed aboard, before explosions drew his horrified attention.

He watched in terror as his fleet, the largest fleet in Fire Nation History, was decimated by one man…and not the Avatar.

Naruto formed the ice into a ramp, using it to fly into the air. He shot flames out of his feet, hovering in midair high above the ship. He brought his hands to his the corners of his mouth, inhaling heavily.

With a flash of light, he exhaled a gigantic ball of pure lightning out of his mouth, which pierced the ship all the way through, before it exploded in a grand fireball.

Back in the village, the entire populace cheered wildly as the last ship was destroyed, more than a few gaping in awe.

They celebrated, hugs and tears of joy rampant.

The Invasion was over.

**A/N 2: And that's the end. Hopefully it's a little better this time around, a little more action and some more character interaction.**

**Review, and tell me how it went and what you thought of it!**

**Keep Being Awesome!**

**-Soleneus**


	2. Nothing Can Go Wrong

Chapter 2 p.1: Nothing Can Go Wrong

_Four Days Later…_

After Naruto had single-handedly decimated the Fire Nation Armada, the Northern Water Tribe celebrated for a good while, before they began to settle and take count of the fighters, to see who was dead and missing.

In a spectacular turn of events, the Tribe had barely suffered any casualties, a welcomed consequence of being well-prepared.

The second day, the Gaang and Naruto helped rebuild the North Pole, bringing the City of Ice back to its' former glory.

Afterward, they celebrated the fact that they were still alive, and _someone_ broke out the alcohol. And then _someone_ also gave Aang alcohol. The rest of the night was a whirlwind of sounds, colors and strange tastes.

The third day was recovery day. Nearly everyone had a hangover, and the entire day was spent holding heads and groaning softly as headaches pounded within their skulls.

Naruto, however, woke up in a very pleasurable fashion, being used as a teddy bear by both Katara and Yue, who were both half-naked and still asleep.

When Katara had woken up, it had taken several minutes for her headache to subside and a few more after that to realize that she was holding on tightly to a warm, male body, wearing only her underwear. And then she blushed bright enough that her face could have been mistaken for beacon.

That day, Katara spent the entire time avoiding Naruto's gaze. Whenever she did meet his eyes, she would flush brightly and look away hurriedly.

Aang spent the whole day comatose, along with Sokka. _Someone_ had scrawled the words 'Light weights' on their foreheads, and they didn't find out until the next day.

On the fourth day, Naruto and the Gaang had been escorted from by Arnook, Yue and Master Paku from the village, and were given a raucous Hero's Farewell.

The group now stood on the deck of a large Water Tribe ship, Aang saddling up Appa behind them. He joined them soon enough, and Arnook began to speak.

"Aang, Katara, Sokka, Naruto and my daughter…for your passionate defense of our village, for saving the Moon Spirit and forewarning us of the Fire Nation Invasion, you are all named Heroes of the Water Tribe." He bowed deeply to them, along with Paku. "Now, I believe that Master Paku has a few gifts he wishes to give."

The venerable Elder Waterbender stepped forward with a small smile. He approached Aang first. "Aang, it's been a pleasure teaching you. Although you have yet to become a master, I fully trust both Katara and Naruto to teach you in my stead. Remember your exercises."

Paku handed Aang a sealed scroll imprinted with the Water Nation Insignia, bowing as he did.

He then approached Katara. "You have great skill Katara, more-so than myself at your age, if I say so myself."

His eyes flickered over to Naruto, and a small smirk crossed his face. "I know Naruto, and I know how dangerous it will be for you to travel with him and Aang. Take this vial, filled with blessed water from the Spirit Oasis, said to have amazing restorative properties."

As he handed her the vial, he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "By the way…I approve of your choice in boyfriends." He leaned back with a knowing smirk as Katara flushed brightly. "Stay safe, Katara."

Next was Sokka. "Sokka, your devious mind, cunning and intelligent tactics helped save a lot of lives during the Invasion. Take this as a remainder that not all great warriors are simply strong or fast."

He handed the wolf-tailed Tribal a box made of intricately carved and shaped wood. "If you can solve this puzzle, Sokka, then you will find an object that will help your unique skills. Good luck."

Finally, Arnook joined Paku with Naruto and Yue. "The last gift is sort of a double gift, you could say," Arnook mused, "Yue, I know how you have been begging me to let you go with Naruto on his travels…it is after much deliberation that I say…yes, you can go."

A wide, shocked grin broke out on Yue's face before she glomped her dad with great force, nearly knocking both of them off the boat.

Paku pulled Naruto aside, handing him a long, thin wrapped package. "Although I doubt you'll need it, Arnook would still feel better if you carried a proper weapon with you." He whispered. "This blade was carved and forged from the fang of a Giant Polar Caribou-Bear, cooled in water gifted from the Spirit Oasis. Protect our Princess with it, won't you?"

Naruto bowed with a serious and respectful visage. "I will."

Arnook finally released his daughter, hastily wiping away un-manly tears. "Now, I know you are eager to begin your journey, so I will simply say good luck, and stay safe."

Paku smiled and bowed one last time. "Katara, Sokka, you may want to know that I will be visiting Kanna in the imminent future. And who knows, maybe I'll get to carve her another necklace."

Sokka grinned widely. "That would be so cool! If you get married to Gran-gran, we'd get to call you…Gran-Paku!"

The older master laughed slightly, before deadpanning, "No."

The newly extended Gaang laughed at Sokka's forlorn 'Awww…', before climbing into Appa's saddle.

Aang sat on the Sky Bison's furry head, cracking the reins and call out, "Appa! Yip, yip!"

The large six-armed sky mammal gave a low growl, flexing his tail and shooting them into the sky.

They waved at Paku and Arnook until they faded from view. Naruto settled in the saddle with the wrapped blade sitting across his knees. "So, where are we headed to?"

"We're headed to Omashu," Aang said cheerfully as he slid into the saddle. "King Bumi is an amazing Earthbender and an old friend, so I'm going to see if he'll be my Earthbending teacher."

Yue quirked an eyebrow, pausing in the act of brushing of her hair. "I'm sensing a story here."

Sokka scoffed from his part of the saddle. "There's always a story when it come to us. Last time we went that way, we got caught up in a cave-in with a group of hippies."

Naruto looked up from his unwrapping of the blade. "How'd you get out?" He asked curiously.

Sokka's tongue was now sticking between his teeth as he tried to puzzle out the puzzle box. "Aang did his 'connecting-with-nature-thing' and managed to draw two Badger-Moles. We rode them all the way out of there."

Katara spoke up from behind Yue, where she was helping the Princess brush her multitudes of hair. "But Appa can't fly that far in one go, so we'll make a stop along the way." She stopped brushing Yue's hair to ask a question. "Hey Yue, have you ever thought of cutting your hair?"

The white-haired teen looked at her hair, which was streaming out over Appa's saddle. If she had been standing, it would have pooled around her feet. "Maybe I should…though I've never actually had my hair cut before."

Katara smiled brightly at the Princess. "Don't worry about it! I've cut plenty of hair since I was little, it won't hurt a bit."

Yue smiled at her happily, glad to converse with another girl. "That'd be great, Katara."

"Let me just get my scissors."

Aang sat in Appa's saddle, a pensive air about him. "Hey…Naruto?"

The blonde looked up from his blade, which he was admiring in the light. "Yeah, Aang?"

"Have you killed people before?"

The question stopped all activity in the saddle. Everyone's eye turned to Naruto, who sighed and set the blade aside. "Yes, I've killed people. You were there for some of it."

Aang looked genuinely sad. "But why?"

Naruto leaned back against the saddle, his eyes becoming half-lidded and sad. "Sometimes, it's the only way to end conflict. Sometimes…people are beyond second chances."

Aang protested immediately. "Everyone deserves a second chance!"

The scarred blonde turned an icy glare onto the bald Avatar. "Not everyone! There are people out there that are sick, twisted, and evil, that need to die, for the sake of everyone else's safety!"

His voice rose in volume. "It's not nice, it's not good and it's definitely not fun, but it's necessary. Sometimes, that's what it's about; not what's right or wrong, good or evil, but what's absolutely necessary to live another day."

The look on Aang's face could be described perfectly as 'horrified'. He looked around the saddle, seeing everyone else's resigned faces. "But it's wrong!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed, becoming colder than ice. Aang flinched in surprise. "Have you ever heard of a place called Morabashi?"

Everyone shook their heads, and Naruto continued. "Let me tell you about Morabashi. It was a small, unassuming town that was known solely for the high amount of ore that could be mined only by Earthbenders. A dry dock, used for making and repairing Fire Nation ships was the only notable thing about the town. When I was ten, I stumbled across Morabashi after traveling for a long time, and a family took me in. they treated me like family…and the entire town paid for it. Someone saw me practicing my different bending styles, and reported it to the higher-ups, who ordered my capture."

His eyes stared off into space, lost in his recollections. "They put tranquilizers in my food, knocked me out and took me prisoner. Because no one told the Fire Nation about it, they killed everyone there, as all of the ore had been mined, and they no longer had need of the Earthbenders. They sealed them in their own mine, and made collapse on top of them. No one survived."

Horrified looks were present on all of the Gaang's faces. Aang looked like he was about to vomit, sentiment shared by everyone else. "When I woke up in a cage, two days later, one of the guards _bragged_ to me about how they had killed the Earthbenders with their own mine."

His eyes became chips of ice. "I don't remember much after that. I remember indescribable rage, hatred for the ones who killed my friends. When I came to, the dry dock was destroyed…no one survived. Three battalions of Fire Nation soldiers and twenty-five engineers. Not one of them lived to see the next day."

He locked eyes with Aang. "Some people…are beyond saving. Some people are monsters, just waiting to be put down before they harm more innocents. Innocence is the first casualty of war. I learned the hard way that not everyone deserves a second chance."

Naruto stood up in the saddle, hooking small metal rings attached to his cloak to his gauntlets. "I'm going to go think, I'll catch up later."

He then jumped off of Appa's back, spreading his cloak out to catch the air, similar to Aang's Glider. With a twist of his body, he spun and vanished below them.

The Gaang sat in their spots, thinking over Naruto's words. Katara quietly resumed cutting Yue's hair, Sokka looked back to his puzzle box, Aang opened the scroll he had been given, and Yue pensively watched her fingers entwine and separate. None their actions had any real enthusiasm, as they were thinking over what Naruto had said.

Appa spotted an Earth Kingdom base, a tall tower and large grounds surrounded by a large wall. He roared out to Aang, who crawled onto his head and took them down.

They were greeted by a large, muscular man (as most Earthbenders were), who called himself General Fong.

"The Avatar and friends! I bid you welcome to my humble fort." He bowed grandly, his dark green cloak brushing the ground.

Aang greeted him cheerfully, bowing back. "Hi! It's nice to meet you, General Fong."

The General smiled widely and bade them to follow him. He led them into his office in the tower, where he gained a serious look. "Avatar Aang, I've heard tales of your battle with the Fire Nation fleet in the North Pole. How you, in your Avatar State, decimated the entire fleet in minutes."

Aang rubbed the back of his head sheepishly while Sokka chuckled in the back ground. "Actually, I didn't do that. I never went into the Avatar State at all in the North Pole."

Fong blinked in surprise. "Really? Then how was the Fire Nation fleet defeated?"

Katara piped up with the answer. "One of our traveling companions did that."

The General tapped a finger to his chin thoughtfully. "…Really now? Hmm, I'd still trust the Avatar State over someone else. Anyway, you must have heard of the feats your past selves have committed, Avatar? How great they were? If we can get you into the Avatar State, we could take out the Fire Lord right now!"

"That wouldn't work."

The whole room turned, to find Naruto leaning against a pillar. Yue cheered, "Naruto!" and ran over to hug him tightly.

He wrapped his arms around her firmly. "Sorry for running off like that, Yue, but I needed time to clear my head."

She pulled back and glared at him lightly. "You can talk to me about anything, Naruto. Anything at all."

"I like your hair cut, princess." He smiled as he ran a hand through her much shorter hair. Katara had cut Yue's hair very short, leaving the fringes to brush over her shoulders, shortening more in the back. She looked like a completely different person.

"Ahem."

Naruto and Yue turned to see General Fong giving them an irritable look. "And who are you?"

His eyes roved over Naruto's face, narrowing on his trio of scars over his eye. "Ah, no need to tell me, I know who you are. Hawk, the White Assassin."

Naruto bowed shortly. "Indeed I am."

Fong smiled nastily. "I believe I have some one you want to meet, Hawk. You might want to ready yourself, though."

Naruto gave a questioning look, before Fong shouted out, "Bowlen!"

Chapter 2 p.2: Everything Has Gone Wrong

The door was flung open by a great force as Naruto's eyes widened. A huge man, easily nine feet tall and covered by thick muscles that corded underneath his skin, ducked under the door. "What you want, Fong?" He spoke in a deep, rumbling voice, like two boulders being ground together.

His large eyes locked onto a familiar sight, a hated sight. White robes with blue and black highlights. "HAWK!" He roared angrily.

General Fong took advantage of Naruto's distraction to kick his heavy desk with great force at the blonde.

Naruto flipped on top of the heavy lumber, riding it as it slid until it smashed through the window, where he back-flipped off before it crashed to the ground, landing on both feet with ease.

The giant form of Bowlen smashed through the remnants of the window, and about two feet of wall, landing with a loud crash and a pulverization of the ground beneath him.

"I KILL YOU, HAWK!" He shouted loudly, drawing the attention of every Earthbender in the base. They surrounded them quickly, enclosing them in a circle that was wide enough to avoid collateral damage, but tight enough to feel constricting. General Fong also leaped out of the hole in the wall, followed by the rest of the Gaang.

"Fong! Why are you doing this?" Aang yelled angrily.

The General laughed crazily. "You mean you don't recognize the man you're traveling with?! He's Hawk, the White Assassin! He killed a General of the Earth Kingdom Army!"

"He was feeding the Fire Nation important intel, and you know it, Fong!" Naruto shouted over the growls coming from Bowlen.

Yue propelled herself over the crowd of Earthbenders, landing next to Naruto in a Waterbending stance. "I'll believe Naruto over someone who attacked us without warning!"

Aang twirled his Staff and fell into a wide Airbending stance, while Katara pulled water from her pouches and Sokka drew both his boomerang and machete, backing away from Fong warily.

"So, that's how it's going to be, Avatar? Very well! It isn't like we haven't survived the last hundred years of war without you! We'll just have to find the next Avatar before the Fire Nation!" He crowed triumphantly.

(With Naruto and Yue)

Bowlen stomped the ground, Earthbending a spire of rock to erupt out of the ground underneath Yue and Naruto, who dodged out of the way as it ripped out of the earth.

"I crush you and girlie, Hawk!" Bowlen rumbled furiously. He impacted both fists into the ground, forcing a boulder several feet across to launch into the air. He drew his head back and slammed it into the rock, sending it hurtling towards Naruto.

The blonde stood his ground, feet spread evenly in Horse stance. He punched his fists forward, meeting the boulder in an explosion of dust and stone chips. Two rocks, twice the size of his fists remained, which he hovered in front of him. Naruto spun on his right foot, roundhouse kicking the stone as a trail of blue flames followed his foot. The flames engulfed the stones and launched them as two globs of lava at Bowlen.

The nine-foot giant tried to swat them aside, but they splattered across the back of his fist with a hiss of burning flesh.

Bowlen waved his hand wildly through the air, howling in pain. His howl rose sharply as a blade of water sliced through the skin of his chest, leaving a shallow cut that bled slightly.

Yue drew her water back, letting it hover in front of her. The giant turned to her with a growl. He had forgotten her in the blind rage that had taken over his mind when he had seen the white-robed Assassin.

He stomped a foot and launched a rock at the white-haired teen. She dodged nimbly, sending a whip of water that cracked into Bowlen's eye sharply.

He wailed in agony, clutching his injured ocular organ. A fireball exploded on his back, throwing him forward slightly.

Bowlen turned an enraged eye onto Naruto, who had thrown the fire. "Bowlen! It was a mistake leaving you alive! A mistake I will fix…right now!"

(With Aang and the Siblings)

While not as unerringly strong as Bowlen, Fong was more nimble, somewhat. He dodged a whip of water and brought a chunk of rock up to deflect a burst of air from Aang.

He stomped and brought several rocks up in front of himself, punching rapidly, sending a flurry of rocks at the trio.

Katara raised a wall of ice in front of her and dodged as the rocks slammed through it, while Aang bent the air around him into a miniature twister, which pulled the rocks around him and threw them back at Fong. Sokka dived backwards, avoiding the rocks entirely.

He rolled onto his feet, pulling his boomerang back and letting it fly.

The small strip of angled metal blurred through the air, impacting with a dull _'thunk'_ into the side of Fong's head, dazing him momentarily.

Aang spun his staff, opening the small glider piece and slamming it down, blowing a large gust of air and dust into Fong's face.

The crazed General swore and rubbed his eyes, and Katara took the chance to form several spikes of ice, shooting them at Fong's legs.

The General had a sixth sense from fighting for so long, and was able to dodge most of the spikes, except for the two that lodged into his thighs, one apiece. He roared in pain and Earthbent a large wave of stone towards them blindly.

Aang jumped over the wave, being all airy and whatnot, while Katara made a ramp out of water that she used to ride over the earth. Fong had missed Sokka entirely.

"Just stop attacking! We can work this out!" Aang called desperately.

Fong growled like a wild animal and brought up a large chunk of rock to hurl at the sound of Aang's voice.

(One Moment Earlier, With Naruto and Yue)

Yue hopped away as Bowlen bent several spikes of earth her direction, retaliating with a sharp whip of water that snapped against his shoulder.

He growled and kicked the ground, throwing a large boulder at the white-haired Waterbender, who dodged once again easily.

Behind him, Naruto drew his hands from the ground, now covered in blue crystal gauntlets that shimmered in the light. He punched, shooting shards of crystal at the giant's back, where most shattered uselessly, but a few managed to pierce his thick skin.

The giant whipped around, angrily tearing a piece of earth up and hurling it at Naruto. The blonde spun around it, lightning gathering around his hand and shooting out as he thrusted it at Bowlen's face.

The giant screamed in pain as thousands of volts fried his eyes. "Switch!" Naruto called out as he ran at the Bowlen. Yue sprinted at him from behind, drawing to blades of water and slashing them across the back of Bowlen's thighs as she rolled between his legs.

Naruto jumped, landing on his head and kicking off to complete the circuit over Bowlen, who fell to his knees as he legs bled heavily.

"Oi, Bowlen! What was that about crushing me? I think you may have been mistaken!" Naruto taunted as he back away subtly.

The bleeding giant roared, grabbing a man-sized boulder out of the ground and spinning on his knees, a move that tore the skin and made him bleed even more. He hurled the boulder at Naruto, who at that time, bumped into someone.

Recognizing who it was, he back flipped into the air, landing on the person's shoulders, kicking off from there.

Fong felt someone push off of him, and he swiped wildly. A rush of air confused him, as it seemed to be coming behind him. Cracking his mucked up eyes slightly, he screamed in terror and anger as the last thing he would ever see or feel slammed into him and carried him across the courtyard, crushing him against the wall.

Naruto landed from his flip, hearing the impact as the boulder crashed into a far wall. Bowlen was still on his knees, panting heavily as his energy faded.

Naruto crouched, sticking his right arm towards the ground, the other hand coming to wrap around his forearm. "This ends now!"

Lightning gathered around his pointed hand, cackling excitedly.

With speed only Aang could follow, the blonde blurred towards Bowlen, ripping the ground up as he did. With a small leap, Naruto's lightning covered hand pierced straight through Bowlen's head, killing him instantly.

He rode the corpse down, before pulling his hand out with a sickening _squelch_ and small spray of gore.

All was silent as the Gaang regrouped around the fallen giant with a hand-sized hole in his forehead.

The Earthbenders around them were silent, before loud cheers broke out, startling the group.

"You're not angry?" Aang asked incredulously.

"Spirits no!" One of the soldiers shouted happily. "Fong was an arrogant idiot, and Bowlen just followed Fong! Now we can finally have a smart leader!"

At that, the cheering doubled.

Fire burst over Naruto's body fading to reveal that the blood that had covered him was gone. "We'll leave you to your celebration."

"Are you sure? The least we could do is escort you to Omashu."  
Aang nodded uneasily, looking sick. "No, we're good. Thanks anyways."

The group piled onto Appa and flew off into the sky as the base celebrated the death of their own general and his enforcer.

The saddle was silent, Yue leaning against Naruto on one side while Katara did the same on the other.

Everyone except Naruto was pale, and even he was discolored slightly.

"Does…does it ever get easier, watching or even doing something like that?" Sokka asked quietly.

Naruto shook his head. "Never. It never does, and hopefully it never will. Being able to kill someone without feeling anything is a true sign of becoming a monster."

Katara leaned heavily into Naruto's shoulder, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Let's just get to Omashu. I think we could all use some rest."

Appa landed behind a tall hill and slumped over, completely exhausted. The Gaang tiredly crawled off of him, even Momo dragging his wings.

Aang moved a head of them, calling back, "I can't wait to see Bumi again. A slide would feel really good right now."

The next words died on his lips as he crested the hill. "Welcome to O…"

Katara gasped at the sight of factories belching smoke into the air, Fire Nation banners waving from flags, and a statue of Ozai stood on top of the mountain. "Oh no…"

Chapter 2 p.3: What Else Could Go Wrong?

The Gaang had snuck through the canyon separating Omashu from any where else, coming up on a metal grate that stuck out of the wall.

Aang had jammed his staff into part of the grate to pry it off as Sokka complained, "Why didn't we use this entrance before?!"

The grate popped off with a waft of sewage and some actual sewage spilling out of the opening.

"Gah!" Sokka jumped back, covering his face with the collar of his shirt. "Okay, now I know."

"Come on!" Aang said, "Let's get in Omashu and find out what happened to Bumi."

He hopped into grate without any more words. Naruto, Yue and Katara glanced at each other, simultaneously shrugged, and then followed him, Waterbending the sewage out of the way.

Sokka gagged at the smell, even through his shirt, and followed after them reluctantly.

…

A manhole cover in the middle of a street popped out of place as a burst of air dislodged it. Two tattooed hands lifted it slightly, letting two grey eyes peer out.

Making sure the area was clear, Aang pushed the cover aside, jumping out afterwards. Katara climbed out, commenting, "That wasn't so bad."

Yue followed her, taking Katara's hand to pull herself up. "Yeah, I don't know why Sokka made such a big deal about it."

Naruto popped out next, taking both of the girl's hands to get out. "He sure can whine sometimes."

A groan sounded out from behind them, coming from a figure covered head-to-toe in sludge, completely hiding the identity.

Katara and Yue bent water from a nearby barrel and sent it into the figure, clearing away the sludge and revealing it to be Sokka. He breathed a sigh of relief at smelling fresh air again, before a weird suction drew his eyes down to his cheeks, where two small purple creatures sat.

A loud cry of alarm came from his mouth as he hopped around wildly, trying vainly to pull the pentapus off of his face.

Aang slapped a hand over Sokka's mouth, hissing, "Quiet down, Sokka! It's just a purple pentapus!" He tickled the head of the little purple creature, which gave of tiny 'Squee!' sound, and let go of Sokka's face with multiple pops, leaving behind a pattern of red marks on his visage.

He tickled the other pentapus and detached it from his face, showing more red marks on the other side of his face.

"Hey! What are do you think you're doing?" A trio of Fire Nation soldiers came upon them with stern faces.

Naruto, Yue and Katara stepped in front of Aang, who quickly twisted part of his clothes into a hat that hid his arrow.

"We were just going for walk." Katara explained.

The guards glanced at each other, before giving them hard looks. "'Going for a walk'? After curfew? There's something you're not telling us."

One of the soldiers, the youngest there, suddenly pointed at Sokka, or more specifically, the marks on his face. "What's wrong with your friend?"

Yue looked over the marks, before an idea struck her. "It's pentapox!" She exclaimed loudly.

Katara's eyes widened, and she caught on. "Yes! It's very painful, very contagious!"

She elbowed her brother, who stuck his arms out and began to groan, shuffling towards the guards. "Ooh, help me! It's burning me! It's horrible!"

Naruto removed the pentapus he had surreptitiously stuck to his hand, sticking it out with an exclamation. "Oh Spirits! It's spreading already! Help me, please!"

The three guards recoiled in fear, the oldest one pointing a shaking finger at them. "Pentapox! I-I've heard of that! Stay away from me!" He then ran off, screaming, followed by the other two.

The Gaang chuckled to themselves, before turning serious. "Bumi's a powerful Earthbender. They probably have him somewhere he can't use it." Sokka reasoned.

The others agreed, and began to make their way up to the statue of Ozai, which was surrounded by scaffolding on the lower levels.

They had made it to a part of the Omashu mail system, when they heard talking coming from below them.

The Gaang hid quickly, watching as a group of people, most of them wearing noble clothing, preceded beneath them.

Naruto's eyes, however, were locked onto the teenager near the front. She had long, silky black hair that was partially done up in two buns, wearing noble robes and slim fingerless gloves. Her pretty face held a look of perpetual boredom.

A shifting of rock drew the Gaang's attention to a group of Earthbenders wearing armor, who shifted a large boulder onto a chute, ready to launch it at the group of noble below.

Naruto's eyes widened as looked back at the group, more specifically, the child a noble lady was holding.

"Shit! A kid! Look out!" the Earthbenders sent the boulder towards the group, who looked up from Naruto's shout to see a large chunk of earth hurtling towards them.

Naruto dashed into the path of the rock, slamming into it with a shoulder thrust, shattering it into dust.

The Earthbenders, who hadn't seen Naruto come out of hiding to stop the rock, sent another one, just to make sure they hit someone.

As the dust from the first boulder faded, another boulder hurtled towards Naruto. He only had a little time to react, punching forward with a fist encased in flame.

He connected solidly, as the rock did to him. It burst into pieces, but hit him hard enough to knock him unconscious.

His body landed in front of the group of nobles who gasped in horrification. "Oh Spirits! The Rebels are attacking!"

An older gentleman with graying hair pointed at the Gaang and the two Earth Kingdom soldiers. "Guards! Stop them!"

The teen pulled a pair of red knives from her sleeves, throwing them at the running group, barely missing and impacting into a stack of wood. She chased after them, losing them around a corner when the Earthbenders flipped a slab of stone that they were standing on, leaving no trace of them except for rapidly dissipating dust.

The teen scoffed and walked back to her parents, who were fretting over Naruto. "Oh, this poor boy! Those horrible Rebels tried to kill us and this brave young man got hurt defending us!"

The governor nodded. "Unfortunately yes. Guards! Bring this man to the infirmary in our house! Be gentle with him!"

The pair of guards saluted and hurried over to pick him up.

The teen sighed in boredom, a small, hidden smile barely twitching her lips. _So this is how we meet again, huh Naruto?_

…

_Three Hours Later…_

Naruto was sprawled over a bed in a guest room in the governor's mansion, still unconscious.

The door slid open quietly, and the soft brushing of slippered feet was the only noise, before the door slid quietly closed.

"You can stop faking sleep, Naruto." A bored, feminine voice said from above Naruto's head.

His blue eyes snapped open, fixing on the coal black of Mai's. A soft smile crossed his lips. "Hey Mai. Lovely view."

Mai was leaning over his head, a smile lifting her normally expressionless face from pretty to beautiful. She wore a small nightgown that covered her modesty and nothing else, letting her long, creamy white legs to be seen. The top was open slightly, letting Naruto get a peak down her shirt.

"Hey Naruto. It's been a while since I've seen you last." She said jokingly.

Naruto chuckled softly. "Every second away from you is too long, Mai."

The young woman laughed gently as Naruto stood up from the bed and embraced her tightly. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her body to his firmly, inhaling his scent with her face buried in his shoulder. "It's so good to be back in your arms, Naruto. I hate having to wait for something to do when you're not around."

He laughed and pulled away, only enough to touch noses with her. "I knew you missed me," he teased.

She smiled coyly. "There's something else I missed about you as well."

Mai leaned forward and pressed her lips to his softly, her arms pulling him tight against her. She licked his lips in question, and as he always did, he obliged her happily.

When they finally ran out of breath, Naruto separated from her, allowing her to shed her gown. She wore very little underneath, only a pair of lacy black panties and bra of a similar nature. He pulled the covers back on the bed, sliding in and letting her join him.

Mai cuddled up to him with a sigh of content, brushing a hand through his blonde hair. "There will be plenty of time for this when we succeed. I honestly can't wait for it." She murmured.

Naruto squeezed her tightly. "Whenever you want me, Mai, you can always have me."

She smiled at him and kissed him one more time. "And that's why I love you, Naruto."

They settled in to sleep, basking in the warmth they received from each other.

That night, they slept peacefully as the rest of the Gaang made plans to escape Omashu with the Rebels.

**A/N: It's not usually my style to leave a (somewhat) cliffhanger, but here we go.**

**Now, I want to be clear: If I answer a question in the A/N that someone asks me immediately after I post this chapter, I'm gonna be pissed.**

**So here's the down low in this story:**

**Naruto: He's lived in the Avatar world for long time, though I haven't specified how long. He will be paired with the following: Azula, Yue, Katara, Mai, Ty Lee and Toph. Someone asked if Suki was going to join them. I hadn't planned on it, but I do have a way of making it happen, if I so desire.**

**Zuko will be paired with Jin, the girl from the Ba Sing Se.**

**Aang will be paired with that one girl from the Fortune Teller episode.**

**Sokka is currently up for debate with the whole Suki thing.**

**Aang will still face off against Ozai, but Naruto will face off with a group of people, Bowlen being one of them,**

**That was not the Chidori, that was Naruto knowing that lightning has piercing power and used it in conjunction with his fist,**

**No, no one else will be coming from the Naruto world, so don't ask.**

**No, Naruto does not have the Rinnegan, it will all be explained later.**

**Questions or comments, either review or PM me, and I'll do my best to answer them.**

**Other than that,**

**Keep Being Awesome!**

**-Soleneus**


	3. A Meeting of Minds

Chapter 3: A Meeting of Minds

***Super Long Chapter Warning***

Naruto woke the next day, holding onto Mai as her head rested on his chest, one of her hands resting on his stomach. A small, happy smile curled her lips as she dozed. She had probably awoken earlier than him, but had rested on him for long enough to fall back asleep.

Naruto leaned over and kissed her gently, her eyes fluttering before slowly half-opening, her amber irises locking onto his blue. "There's no better way to wake up than like this, is there?"

The blonde smiled and pulled her into a tender embrace. "None at all." He agreed.

Mai sighed slightly, before pulling away. "I better get back to my own room before my parents freak out."

She slipped out from under the covers, giving Naruto quite the view as she bent to grab her gown from the night before. "I'll talk to you later, okay?" She smiled coyly at him before leaving the room.

Naruto sighed as he got up and dressed, looking over his white, black and blue armor critically. _This is too Water Tribe. I need something a little more Fire Nation._ With a small smirk, he flicked his wrist, the colors shifting and changing.

The black was more prominent and shinier, more like obsidian, while the blue changed to crimson and became more prominent and the white changed to amber highlights.

Now, his armor looked like something a Fire Nation noble would wear. The boots were similar to what most citizens of the Fire Nation wore, with the exception of the curled toe, with a line of gold traveling up the front. His pants were mostly black with crimson highlights, loose for easier movement, as was the style for every bender. His shirt was short-sleeved and a dark crimson. He wore a pair of black bracers on his forearms that connected to a pair of fingerless gloves.

Over that, was his armor. Greaves covered the top of his feet and the shins, along with thigh armor connected to a girdle that was made from scale-like armor that shifted when he did for easier movement. Over his chest was a triangular cuirass that covered his chest and most of his stomach, as well as the shoulders and back, made of plated dark red metal. The neck had half-masks sewn into it to be drawn up to cover most of his face when needed. He also wore a pair of gauntlets that covered the entire forearm with small hooks, as well as the back of his hand and the first knuckle of all his fingers. The final piece was a long cloak with a hood, the cloak having small rings sewn into the edges to catch the hooks on his arms. This allowed him to use it like a glider.

After fitting the last piece on himself, he exited the room to look for the governor. After asking a servant, Naruto found the governor eating breakfast with his family on the veranda.

The mad noticed him and shuffled to his feet quickly, hastily wiping his mouth on a napkin. "Ah, excuse me! I didn't think you'd be on your feet at this time. Oh, where are my manners? My name Kanjo, this is my wife Kai, my daughter Mai and my son, Bo. Might we know the name of the man who saved us from those Rebels?"

Naruto bowed at the waist. "My name is Naruto, and I simply did what anyone would do to help a family, sir."

Kanjo smiled beatifically. "Well, I'd still like to thank you for the help. Might I inquire about what you were doing that night?"

The blonde rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I was trying to study the statue of Fire Lord Ozai…I'm an architect's apprentice, you see. I never made it to the statue, though it was worth missing if it helped in the long run."

Kai smiled brightly at the young man. "Well I'm glad you did. Why don't you pull up a seat and have breakfast with us? And Mai, thank the young man for saving us."

Mai sighed and rolled her eyes. "Thanks for saving my family, I guess…"

Naruto gave her a nervous look, before sitting down with them and eating breakfast. After they had eaten their fill and the food was cleared away, Mai took a spot on a stool, waiting with a placid look on her face. Kai had set Bo in a play area, though the toddler had his eyes firmly set on a bowl of lychee nuts.

The governor opened his mouth, but the dirge of hundreds moaning in unison drew all of their attention to the view from the balcony.

All of the citizens of Omashu were stumbling around, covered in red dots and groaning, heading in the general direction of the gate.

Naruto's sharp eyes picked out Sokka, Aang, Katara and Yue, who were shuffling with the rest. _I see they took the 'pentapox' idea to another level…though I wonder why they're leaving; I thought Aang wanted to see King Bumi?_

Mai surreptitiously glanced at Naruto, who shrugged back. "What in the world is going on?" Kanjo called out incredulously.

Unknown to them, Momo had spotted the bowl of nuts and was currently eating from it greedily. Bo had spotted the flying lemur's tail and latched onto it, startling Momo, who jumped out of the window, pulling the toddler out with him.

Through a series of lucky coincidences, Bo was completely fine when got to the ground, and he crawled off after the lemur, his parents unaware that he was missing.

…

Later that night, the rest of the Gaang sat around a small fire along with the citizens and soldiers of Omashu.

"Man, I can't believe Bumi would surrender like that." Sokka muttered with a shake of his head.

"I don't know," Aang said, "But I intend to find out."

Katara was fidgeting worriedly with her fingers, as she had been doing all night and day. "What about Naruto? Do you think he's safe in there? Maybe they're torturing him for information about us?!"

Yue, as she had done all day, reassured Katara with soothing words. "Don't worry about him, Katara, he'll be fine. He's pretty well traveled and a smooth talker, so don't be afraid for him, okay?"

Katara relaxed marginally, but Yue knew she would go right back to worrying in a few minutes.

A giggle and a screech from Momo drew their attention to a small boy trying to grab Momo's tail. He was dressed in Fire Nation clothes, something that set alarm bells off in their heads. "Uh oh…" Sokka muttered. "I think we have one extra."

Katara picked Bo up and sat him in her lap, worry on her face for someone besides Naruto. "This isn't good. How do you think the governor will react to this?"

…

_(With Naruto)_

"That cunning King Bumi…surrendering without a fight, only to have his men steal my son away? Genius!" Kanjo muttered to himself while stroking his chin anxiously.

Kai had collapsed into a chair and was sobbing inconsolably. "Oh my baby!" She wailed. "I can't imagine what they're putting him through right now!"

…

_(The Gaang)_

"A big boy eats his vegetables! Don't you want to grow up big and strong?" Katara asked in a babyish voice.

"Katara!" Sokka whined plaintively. "Not in front of other people!"

Bo stared and giggled at them as Yue spoon-fed him mashed vegetables. Aang snickered behind his hand at the sight of Katara trying to make her brother eat some greens.

"Now you will eat your veggies young man or no dessert for you!" Katara scolded her brother.

"Katara, I'm older than you!"

…

_(Naruto)_

"Oh, I can't stand it!" She cried out. Mai sighed and handed her a handkerchief she pulled out of her pocket.

Naruto locked gazes with Mai, and unspoken question passing between them. _Are they always this dramatic?_

Mai nodded once. _Definitely._

Naruto sighed and palmed his face in distress. _This is going to be a long night._

…

_(The Next Day)_

Azula rode into Omashu in a royal palanquin with a procession of soldiers and a girl her age, wearing a pink, mid-riff baring outfit with fluffy legs, her long brown hair tied into a braid and a bright smile on her face.

Another procession, this time with the haggard governor and his wife, along with an irritated Naruto and Mai, met them halfway to the mansion.

The governor bowed hastily, as did everyone else. "Princess Azula, I apologize for not coming earlier, I've been negotiating with a band of Rebels who have kidnapped my son."

Azula lifted a single well-plucked and shaped eyebrow. "Oh really? Well let this be a lesson to you to pay attention to your son more often."

The girl in pink with her had cart-wheeled ahead and glomped Mai, happily cheering, "Mai! It's so good to see you again!"

Mai rolled her eyes in exasperation before patting her on the back. "Nice to see you as well, Ty Lee. Still happy, I see."

Ty Lee peered over Mai's shoulder, locking eyes with a smiling set of sapphire. She winked slyly at Naruto, before jumping off Mai and getting into his face with a wide smile. "And who's this? You have such a bright aura!" She blushed slightly. "He's cute, too. You have good taste, Mai."

Mai flushed uncharacteristically, sputtering. "He-he's not my boyfriend! I just met him yesterday!"

Azula stepped out of her palanquin and smirked arrogantly at Naruto. "And who are you?"

Kanjo stepped forward hastily. "Ah, this is just a traveler who saved my family from a sneak attack from Rebel Earthbenders, named Naruto."

The princess narrowed her eyes on him and smiled nastily. "Say, 'Naruto', are you any good at combat? Your armor would tell someone else that you are, but it tells me that you need protection from those more skilled."

Naruto looked entirely unfazed. "It's a dangerous world, Princess. Anything to survive."

Ty Lee draped herself over Naruto's shoulders with a wide grin. "Oh, lay off him, Azula! He's too cute for you to drive him away! Besides, he's also free for the taking!" She exclaimed while rubbing her cheek against his whiskered one.

Kanjo spoke up again. "If I may ask, princess, what is it that you are doing here?"

Azula sniffed haughtily. "I came to find Mai. I'm putting together a team to hunt down my traitorous brother and uncle, and I could use her skills. But, while I'm here, I might as well deal with this."

Kanjo blanched slightly, before bowing hurriedly. "Of course, Princess Azula."

The princess looked over Naruto and scoffed slightly. "Are you powerful, peasant?"

Naruto shrugged slightly, lifting Ty Lee and making her giggle. "There are benders stronger than I am, but I can hold my own in a fight."

Azula eyed him arrogantly. "I'm sure. Well, follow me, and we'll see how skilled you are. Who knows, if you're lucky I may ask you to join us on our mission?"

Naruto bowed shortly. "As you wish."

She turned to Kanjo. "We'll handle the negotiations from now on. Where were you going to meet these Rebels?"

"On the scaffolding near Lord Ozai's statue. The crane is the only thing that can lift Bumi's constraints." Kanjo explained, bowing again.

Azula scoffed and motioned for the other three to follow her. They made their way up the mountain, stopping once they were completely sure that they were alone.

After getting the all clear from Mai, Azula broke out in a happy smile, as did Ty Lee. "Naruto!" The bubbly pink girl cheered and glomped onto the blonde happily.

She pulled back and looked him dead in the eyes, grabbing his cheeks with both hands. "You have no idea how long I've waited to do this." And then Ty Lee smashed her lips to his passionately, arms around his shoulders and pulling him tightly to her. She licked his lips, begging to be given access. He obliged and pulled her tongue into his mouth, allowing her to explore to her heart's content.

Azula watched with visible amusement, and Mai chuckled as, after five minutes, Naruto and Ty Lee hadn't separated.

After air had become enough of an issue to suffocate them, the two separated, panting heavily.

"Wow," Naruto commented. "I saw you last week."

Ty Lee grinned happily. "Well, it's been so hard to pretend that it's taking a toll on my aura! The only way to bring it back to it's usual color is to make out with you!"

Mai pulled a pouting Ty Lee off of Naruto as Azula came forward and claimed his lips for herself. They broke apart with a sigh of relief coming from Azula. "It's so trying to pretend for so long," She complained, "Even _my_ attitude annoys me."

Naruto threw an arm around her and Ty Lee with a smile. "Just a little while longer, ladies. And then we'll be able to walk hand-in-hand down the main street of any Nation."

They made it to the section of scaffolding where Yue, Aang, Katara and Sokka waited, Yue holding Bo in her arms. Behind the Fire Nation group, a madly cackling Bumi was lifted by a crane into the air. "Hello, Aang!"

Yue approached them warily, hiding a smirk as Naruto winked at them. As Mai stepped forward to bring Bumi down, Azula sidled up beside her and whispered loudly in her ear, "Wait, Mai. Is this really worth it? A powerful Earthbender for a toddler?"

Mai appeared indecisive for about half a second, before she nodded. "You're right," She agreed, "Deal's off."

The crane holding Bumi began to pull him away and Naruto subtly took a step back, behind Azula and the girls.

"No! Bumi!" Aang shouted, ducking as a blue fireball shot over his head, fired by Azula. As he bent back up, his cap came loose, showing his arrow tattoo.

Azula's eyes widened, before narrowing in pleasure. "Ah, the Avatar. I didn't think that I would get to meet you so soon…I have to say, I'm not that impressed."

Naruto bent a blast of air at the girls, stumbling them and giving Aang enough time to jump off of the scaffolding and onto Bumi's metal box, where he began blowing on the chain to freeze it.

"Traitor!" Azula hissed venomously at Naruto, before she chased after the swinging crane. Naruto followed after her while Mai and Ty Lee engaged Yue, Katara and Sokka.

Ty Lee went after Sokka first, dodging his wild swings with his machete nimbly, punching his arm softly in a few specific spots.

To Sokka's horror, his arm immediately went limp. He ducked and rolled underneath a kick, coming up to pull his boomerang out and hurl it at Ty Lee's head. She moved her head an inch to the side, letting the metal zip past her. She closed the distance and punched him lightly in the chest, paralyzing most of his body.

Ty Lee stuck her face close to his and examined him, before smiling widely. "Hey, you're kinda cute, you know!"

Sokka looked at her incredulously, before his boomerang came back and slammed into the back of her head, with enough momentum to continue into his face.

Sokka lay on the ground, furiously trying to make his body move while Ty Lee was unconscious.

Yue and Katara used their water to block the sharp projectiles, trying to whip or trap Mai, who dodged with surprising speed. She jumped forward and dodged underneath simultaneous whips, missing Katara with a needle but stabbing the other into Yue's arm.

The white haired princess gasped in pain and clutched her limb, which refused to move.

Mai smirked. "I may not be Ty Lee, but I can still take away your bending."

Aang finally froze the chain enough to shatter it with one swing of his staff. Unluckily, they were hanging in mid-air. Fortunately, they landed in one of Omashu's mail chutes, sliding down the ramp at a blistering pace.

Azula saw them race past her, Aang childishly sticking his tongue out at her as he passed. Am expression of rage crossed her face, before she kicked a stone cart into the chute and jumped on the lip, practically surfing after Aang and Bumi.

Naruto followed them, bending metal bolts out of the scaffolding to form a thin sheet of metal that took an oblong shape, which he used to actually surf down the chute after them.

"Just wait a few seconds, Bumi! Once we get away I'll free you!" Aang called out over the sound of metal grinding on stone.

"Aang!" Bumi tried to shout, but was cut off as the Avatar spun his staff rapidly, dissipating a blast of fire from Azula, who was following close behind them.

"Hold on, Bumi!" He shouted, blasting a wall of air at the side of chute, crashing through the side and shooting off into air, landing in another chute.

Azula managed to do a similar thing, using Firebending to push her cart out of the chute and into the other.

Aang cheered as they slid down the chute like a bullet. "Just like old times, eh Bumi?"

The mad king of Omashu tried to get Aang to listen to him. "Aang! I need to talk to you!"

But Aang misheard. "I missed you too, buddy!"

"No, Aang, listen!"

Another blast of fire shot over Aang's head, drawing a cry of alarm from him and Bumi. Behind them, Azula charged another fire blast, shooting it at them quickly.

Aang inhaled deeply before launching a compressed ball of air at the fire, which exploded as Azula's cart slid through it.

The cart cleared the smoke, bereft of Azula. Aang breathed a sigh of relief, before sucking it back in as she hopped out of the cart and back onto the lip, launching a spinning fire blast that Aang would not be able to just blow away.

Bumi, tired of being ignored, thrust his chin up with a grunt and a flex of his muscles, bending a spike of earth out of the chute.

The fire ball impacted into the rock, barely chipping the stone.

Azula's eyes widened as she hurtled towards the rock, jumping off at the last second, avoiding being a splatter on the chute. She landed on her feet and slid a few meters before stopping, but the annoyed look on her face would send most men running.

Not Naruto, however.

With a screech of metal, he zipped past her, grabbing the collar of her armor and pulling her onto his back a she screamed in surprise. "Yo!"

She punched his back before clutching him tightly. "Don't ever surprise me like that again, Naruto!"

He laughed loudly. "Really now?"

With a twist of his feet, he sent the board abseiling out over Omashu, spreading his cloak as much as he could and Airbending the air underneath them to fly.

Azula screamed into his ear as she held onto him with a death-grip. Naruto guffawed loudly, before beginning to sing loudly. "I can show you the world, shining, shimmering, splendid!"

…

Aang jumped off of Bumi's prison as the king bent the earth at the bottom of the chute to make him stand up.

"What's going on Bumi? Why did you surrender? How can you still Earthbend? What's wrong with you?" The young Avatar shouted at the old bender.

"Aang, listen to me. I tried to tell you, but I can't be your Earthbending teacher." Bumi said sadly.

"What? Why?" Aang complained.

"Listen, Aang, you know about jing, right?"

Aang nodded his in exasperation. "Yeah, there's positive jing when defending and negative jing when attacking."

Bumi cut in with a wide smile. "And then there's neutral jing, when you do nothing!"

The Avatar gaped in surprise. "There are three types of jing?!" He exclaimed in shock.

The king glanced off to the side in thought. "Actually there are eighty-seven, but that's not important right now. Your Earthbending teacher is one who is a master of neutral jing, someone who waits and listens before striking."

"But why not you, Bumi?" Aang asked quietly.

The mad king sighed. "It's just not meant to be Aang. The one who will teach you will help you more than I ever could. However," A glint of madness shined in his eyes, "When you do meet the Fire Lord, I hope you will remember to think like a mad genius."

With cackling laughter, he bent a wheel of stone to push him back up the chute, laughing all the way.

Aang sighed but smiled as Momo landed on his shoulder and patted his head. "Come on, Momo, let's get the others and get out of here."

…

_(With the Girls…and Sokka)_

Sokka had managed to pull himself up with the use of his hands, gathering his boomerang and slotting back into the sheath on his back. He then pulled himself along the wall, right as Ty Lee began to groan and shift. "Definitely not cute anymore…" she moaned painfully. Mai had managed to hold off both Yue and Katara, through dodging and disabling them with needles, but she was getting annoyed. Every time she managed to tag one of them, the other covered for them and let them heal, before getting back in the fight.

Appa flew behind the girls with Aang and Naruto already in the saddle. Sokka jumped on as Mai and Ty Lee pursued them. The cunning tribesmen spotted something where the girls were running, throwing his boomerang quickly and knocking the support out from underneath them.

The weakened wood collapsed under them, trapping them up to their waists in wood. Sokka blew a derogatory raspberry at them, before ducking quickly as Mai shot a trio of crossbow bolts she had stored in wrist launcher at his head.

Yue and Katara jumped on, and Aang cracked the reins, Appa flying off into the distance.

On their way out of Omashu, they found Naruto flying through the air with his cloak, avoiding blasts of blue fire being shot at him by Azula. "Get back here!" She screamed as a burst of flames raced after him, though the heat generated from the blaze only propelled him along faster.

He landed in the saddle, looking back with a derisive grin at the angry Fire Nation Princess. While she watched, he brought his thumb to his nose, the rest of the hand extended out, and he wiggled his fingers.

The message was clear. _Better luck next time!_

On the Sky Bison's back, the Gaang and Naruto had a lovely reunion. Yue and Katara hugged him tightly while the guys patted him on the back. "We were so worried about you!" Katara very nearly cried.

Yue rolled her eyes mentally and sighed. _You were the only one actually worried, Katara._

Naruto scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, Katara. I'm alright, they didn't hurt me or anything, they just asked me a few questions."

Sokka was wondering about something else. "Who were those girls? What did that pink one do to me?"

The blonde shrugged. "I don't really know. I only heard snippets of their conversation, but I did catch a few names. I think the gloomy one with the black hair was Ty Lee and the bubbly one was called Mai*."

The seriousness on his face was alarming. "But if I heard right, the other girl will be serious trouble."

Yue gave him a questioning look. "Why?"

"Because she's Princess Azula, Heir Apparent to the Throne of the Fire Nation and a prodigy Firebender."

Sokka waved his hands. "That's cool and all, but you didn't let me finish! The more important thing here…how did you change your clothes? You don't even have a bag with you!"

Naruto patted his armor with a laugh. "I bent them."

Everyone in the saddle goggled at him. "What?!" The force of wind coming from their mouths nearly blew him out of the saddle.

"It's pretty easy, actually. It takes some fine control and a lot of practice, but it's worth it in the long run." Naruto shrugged easily. "Just a few specific movements and…"

He twitched his shoulders and twisted his wrists before slapping the cuirass. Before their disbelieving eyes, his clothes shifted.

The triangular armor plates widened into rectangular shapes, colored emerald green. His leg guards changed into plates, covering only the top of his feet as the boots retracted to reinforce his pants, leaving him barefoot. The gauntlets shortened to covering just the back of his hand and shifted to green. His shirt stayed mostly the same, but it turned tan and slightly heavier, and a pair of black leather bands wrapped around his upper arms. Lastly, his cloak shortened and lost the beak, turning a light green and trimmed with gold in a solid design around the edges.

When he was finished, he looked very similar to an Earth Kingdom General.

Sokka shook his head in disbelief. "Is there anything you can't bend, Naruto? Just tell me now and end the suspense."

Naruto shrugged as the girls marveled over his clothes. "I haven't come across anything I couldn't bend if I put my mind to it."

Katara wore a pensive look as she spoke her thoughts. "If you can bend everything, why aren't you the Avatar? No offense, Aang."

The bald monk waved her off, focused on Naruto as well. "I was wondering about that too."

The blonde shook his head. "I'm not sure why, but I'm glad. With my abilities, I'm a lot more versatile in a fight, but Aang has hundreds of previous lives to add power and finesse. You could eventually have the power to bring all of the continents together if you wanted."

He shrugged blithely. "I'm just different, even among people who can bend more than one element."

Aang nodded in agreement, before Naruto's last words hit him. "Wait, what? There are people who can bend two elements?"

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at him questioningly. "Do you seriously believe that the Avatars and myself are the only ones who can bend more than one?"

Everyone nodded, including Momo. "Wait, seriously?" Naruto shot up in surprise with wide eyes. "You don't know?"

Shaking heads answered his question. "No one told you about the ones who are out to kill us?" He asked incredulously.

The entire Gaang paled and Yue grabbed onto Naruto's arm tightly. "Who's out to kill us?" She asked fearfully.

He gave them a dead serious look. "The Ember Generals. A group of the highest-ranking and most deadly men in the Fire Nation. Each one of them is dangerous and most are a master of two styles."

Dread darkened their faces and Aang began to sweat nervously. "Who are they?" He asked anxiously.

Naruto's eyes darkened and narrowed angrily. "There are only a few confirmed. There's Sing and Song, one a master of all types of weapons, and the other, one of the previous holders of 'Last Airbender', along with one of the twin duo, Ran and Cor. They're probably going to try and get that title back, Aang."

The young Airbender's eyes widened in surprise. "What do you mean, Airbenders? I though Sozin wiped them all out!"

Naruto shook his head. "Every war has it's traitors, Aang. They may bend air, Aang, but they are no more Airbenders than Sokka's an Earthbender. Even they are not the most dangerous." A murderous look swept across his visage, one that was alien to his friends. "No, that title is held by one man…the man I've sworn on my blood that I would kill…High General Ourra Zhong. He's said to be the third strongest Firebender in the World, below Iroh and Ozai respectively. It's said that he isn't the Fire Lord because he doesn't want to be."

Sokka asked Naruto nervously. "Why did you swear to kill him?"

Naruto eyed them, before turning away with a sad sigh. "It's not something I like to talk about."

They left him alone as he sat in the saddle with a lost look on his face, Katara and Yue squeezing his arm and comfortingly.

…

After they broke camp the next day, everyone was relaxing in the saddle, doing their own things. Naruto was perusing a small scroll on control; Yue was lying on her stomach sewing pieces of leather together; Sokka was fussing with his puzzle box, yelping in pain on occasion for no reason and looking around in alarm, before going back to his box, only for it to happen again.

Katara leaned against Naruto, her right hand hidden behind her back, where it occasionally twitched and twisted, creating small balls of ice that bounced off her brother's head with a dull _thunk_. She smothered giggles behind her hand as she watched Sokka become more and more paranoid.

Aang lay back, watching the clouds with a carefree grin on his face.

A sudden cacophony of sounds drew Sokka's away from his box and over the side of the saddle.

"Whoa!" his shout startled the others, who joined him looking over the side.

Beneath them was a humongous forest that stretched for miles beneath them. The biggest thing was the tree that towered over them, even as high as Appa was flying. This tree was bigger than anything any of them had ever seen.

"Spirits…" Yue breathed in surprise.

"That is one huge tree." Naruto commented in an awed voice.

The sound of rushing winds, while not unusual on Appa's back, was still alarming. They turned to see a huge tornado that was storming towards them.

"Aang!" Katara shouted in concern.

The Avatar jumped onto his familiar's head and grabbed the reins, pulling them sharply away from the tornado. "Hold on everyone!"

The tornado kept behind them, by now it was obvious that it was unnatural. "This thing cannot be natural!" Sokka cried as the air maelstrom followed after them intently.

With out warning, it was on them, battering the group with hard winds. They grabbed onto the hand-holds of the saddle, holding on for dear life.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as the wind whipped at him, before they widened in shock. The blade that had been gifted to him by the Water Tribe was being pulled into the tornado.

He whipped his hand behind him, sending a blade of air slicing through the currents. It gave him enough time to let go of the saddle and pushed himself off to grab the blade.

However, as he did, the wind shifted and reversed, pushing them down instead of pulling. Naruto was in the middle of the saddle, no hand-hold nearby, and received the full force of the pressure. He slammed harshly into the hard leather of the saddle, and the wind reversed again, pulling him out of the saddle and throwing him into center of the tornado.

Yue saw him fly off into the wind and tried to scream, but the wind forced her mouth shut. One by one, Aang, Sokka, Katara and Yue were ripped from the saddle, thrown into the tornado like twigs.

They eventually lost consciousness, and it was only the heavy amount of vines crossing the trees below them that they did not die.

…

Aang awoke suspended by vines, about four meters above the swampy ground. He struggled to release himself, eventually falling from the vines and floating towards the ground.

A rustle in the bushes to his left made him raise his staff in a defensive stance, ready to defend himself from the undoubtedly large amount of predators in the swamp.

The bushes parted to show Katara and Yue, who were battered and bruised from the landing. "Aang!" Katara yelled out in relief, sprinting over to the monk and hugging him tightly. Yue joined them in the hug, and they parted to look around themselves. "Where are Sokka and Naruto?"

Muffled yelling from a distance drew them through the brush to an old stump that had two legs kicking wildly from the top along with the yelling issuing from it.

Yue and Katara drew water from the swamp and made a blade that slashed through the empty trunk, letting it fall to the ground and shatter, leaving Sokka somewhat unharmed.

"Oh, thank the Spirits! I've been trapped in there for an hour!" He coughed wood dust from his lungs and stood, warily looking around him. "This place gives me the creeps."

The sounds of nature, the buzzing of insects and the groans and creaks of the trees created an eerie sound that made them question whether or not that light glinting in bush was a reflection of the water or the hungry eyes of a predator.

A sudden loud scream made the group jump and whirl around, looking for the cause of the human-sounding cry.

Instead, they found a fat white bird with a large beak, who screamed at them again and flew away to do bird things.

The tenseness faded slightly, but was still lingering under the surface of their minds.

Sokka unsheathed his machete and began to hack away at the vines crossing his path. The other three glanced at each other before Aang voice the question on their minds. "Sokka, what are you doing?"

"Trying to find Naruto." He replied shortly.

"Not that it's a bad idea, but why?" Yue asked.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Naruto's a better warrior than I am, and I'll feel safer if he's around." He gave a peeved look. "If you tell him that I said that, I'm going to be pissed."

He continued hacking away, leaving an easy trail to follow. Katara, Yue and Aang shrugged at each other and followed.

…

Naruto awoke, lying on a branch above the murky water of the swamp. His sword was clutched tightly in one hand, and a headache throbbed in his skull.

He groaned in pain and pushed himself up, tying the sword to his belt before viewing the area around himself. _It's going to be hard to find anyone here,_ He thought.

With a sigh, Naruto leaped off of the branch and onto another, heading off into the forest to find his friends.

…

Aang glanced nervously about him as Sokka continued to slash through the vines with impunity, noticing that the sounds of the forest had diminished to the point of silence. "Sokka, I don't think you should be hurting the plants like that…" He cautioned.

The Tribal scoffed. "What, should I apologize as I hack our way out of here? Oh, I'm sorry, Mister Vine, do you mind if I cut you? Phht."

Yue and Katara fell into light stances while the tension increased. "Sokka, I think Aang might be right about this…"

Sokka threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "Really, Katara? It's not like the plants are going to fight back!"

At that point in time, a large mass of what looked like tentacles shot out of the undergrowth and impacted into Sokka, throwing him across the clearing with a loud scream. He disappeared into the brush as Katara cried out, "Sokka!"

A creature, seemingly made from a mass of vines and a large wooden mask appeared out of the swamp with terrifying speed, swatting aside all attacks and sending each of the group out into the swamp.

Katara found herself in the dirty water of the swamp, covered in muck. With a swift motion, she pushed all of the mud off of her and looked around.

Fog began to permeate the area, giving the swamp a much more sinister feel. Whispers began to echo from all around her, sending shivers crawling up her spine.

One voice began to echo louder and louder, being one that she longed to hear the most.

Her mother's.

A humanoid shape appeared out of the thick mist, a slender female figure dressed in the clothes of the Southern Water Tribe.

"Mom!" Katara shouted in disbelief and sadness.

Her mom's face was stern and cold, the complete opposite of what her countenance usually was. "Katara…what are you doing?"

Her voice was harsh and sharp, and it brought tears from Katara's eyes. "What do you mean, mom?"

"I mean, what are you doing away from the Tribe!" She shouted angrily.

"W-what do you mean?" She asked, stumbling over her words in fear.

"I wanted you to be safe! And yet, I find you here, hanging around with some of the most danger-bringing people around! I died to keep you safe, and you throw it in my face!" Her screams of anger drove Katara to her knees.

Tears fell from her eyes and splashed into the swamp with barely a ripple as she sobbed. "I'm sorry!"

Her mother's face hardened further. "A sorry person wouldn't disregard the sacrifice their mother made for them! A sorry person wouldn't lie!"

Katara's watery blue eyes met her mother's hard ones. "What do you-?"

"I know about you and that boy, Katara! I know how you feel! And yet you deny your feelings like a little girl that doesn't want to accept the truth!" She appeared right in Katara's face, screaming her words out.

"I'm not lying!" She cried back.

"Yes you are! You hide behind this façade of cheerfulness, when inside, every time he touches her, you wish with all your heart that you were in her place!"

Katara slumped in shame. Her mother drew her ire up for the final attack. "You went on this journey to prove you were a woman. A woman knows the difference between love and lust, and can tell themselves the truth!"

Her next words were the harshest yet. "You are nothing but a little girl, not a woman. You can't even tell the man you love your feelings…you don't deserve to be here. Go back to tribe until you can grow up."

Katara's shoulders shook as more tears fell, before they stopped and she stood in the water, her hair covering her face.

"No…" she whispered.

"What was that?" Her mother asked sharply.

"No!" Katara shouted. "I'm not leaving! I am a woman, and I will prove it!"

Her mother smirked haughtily. "Then say it."

"Say what?" She asked angrily.

Her mother sneered. "Say what you feel. Or are you still a little girl?"

Katara clenched her hands, before grinding out. "I love him."

"What was that?" her mother taunted.

"I love him!" Katara yelled.

"Who's him, little girl?" Derision dripped from her tone.

"I LOVE NARUTO! AND NOTHING YOU CAN SAY WILL MAKE ME ABANDON HIM!" She screamed with all her passion and heart.

Panting heavily, she looked into her mother's eye with determination. To her surprise, they glimmered with love and happiness. "That's my girl…" she whispered, before fading into the mist.

Katara's eyes widened as she realized that she had hallucinated the whole thing. Her shock eventually waned, but her determination remained. _No matter what happens,_ she vowed to herself, _I will tell him how I feel!_

"Katara?" A familiar voice startled her from her reverie, shock crossing her face.

…

Sokka pulled himself out of a mass of tangled vines with an irate grumble. "Stupid plants…"

Fog began to descend around him, and he voiced his dislike of the situation. "Oh great…now it's dark AND creepy! Fantastic!"

He trudged through the swamp, hacking his way through the vines in front of him. "Stupid plants, stupid swamps, stupid tornadoes, stupid nature!"

"Sokka…"

The young Tribal jumped and turned to the familiar voice, eyes widening as they landed on someone he never expected to see in here. "Dad?"

Hakoda, his long hair pulled back into a wolf-tail like his son's, smiled at Sokka. "My son…it's good to see you again."

Tears came to Sokka's eyes, but he wiped them away hurriedly. "How are you here, dad?"

His dad smiled mysteriously and deflected the question. "Never mind that, how are you?"

Sokka puffed his chest. "I'm great! Dealing with all these benders, being the only normal person around…it's great." His enthusiasm died as he finished his sentence.

Hakoda draped a comforting arm around Sokka's shoulders. "You're lonely, aren't you son?"

The proud tribesman slumped. "Everyone we meet is not like me, dad. Everyone. Barely anyone I've met _hasn't_ looked down on me at some point for not being a bender."

The chief gave his son a questioning look. "What about that one girl…Suki, was it?"

"What about her?"

Hakoda shrugged. "She's not a bender. And she seemed to respect you from your last meeting."

Sokka slumped further. "She's an important warrior…I'm just a hic from the Southern Tribe…"

"Sokka," Hakoda grabbed his son's shoulders firmly. "I know, better than anyone, what it's like to feel inadequate for a woman. Your mother was worthy of so much more than just me…but in the end, she chose me. And I made sure to never make her regret it, not once."

"What are you saying?" Sokka asked cautiously.

"I'm saying, that if you really want to, you can do anything you put your mind to. Even love." Hakoda smiled. "And if you're my son, you'll do the right thing."

Sokka wiped his watery eyes and hugged his dad tightly. "Thank you, dad. I miss you so much…"

"I know…"

Sokka opened his eyes, only to find himself hugging the trunk of a tree, two branches draped around his shoulders. He sniffed and smiled slightly. "Maybe nature isn't all that bad…"

…

Yue pushed her way past a tangle of vines, worry tightening her features. _We're all separated in a dark and creepy swamp, stalked by a strange creature made out of vines…I hope Naruto's alright…_

She wouldn't like to admit it, but Yue was concerned for Naruto. During the middle of last night, he came to her and told her about what was going on between him and Fire Nation, or, more specifically, Azula. She was also a princess, and if Yue were to grudgingly admit it, very beautiful.

_It's not like Naruto will forget me for her…would he?_ She thought worriedly.

"Of course he would."

Yue whipped around, drawing water from the swamp in preparation to attack, when she came face-to-face with Azula herself, looking about the swamp with a disdainful sneer.

"What do you mean?" Yue growled lowly.

The ebony-haired Princess smirked nastily. "Having trouble believing what I've said? Too bad. You know that Naruto would choose me over you in a heartbeat! After all, I'm the Heiress to the Ember Throne, the future Fire Lord and one of the best Firebenders in the nation."

The ivory-haired Princess growled like an angry cat. "I am a princess as well! And you know that he doesn't care for riches or skill, he would still love me no matter what!"

Azula's smirk widened. "Really now? Oh, Naruto~!"

Yue's eyes widened as Naruto, wearing Fire Nation regalia entered the scene. "Yes, my beloved?"

The Fire Nation Heiress smiled lovingly. "My fire has faded into embers, my love. I need it _stoked_ back into an inferno so I can incinerate this foolish woman. Be a dear and help me, won't you?"

Naruto's eyes were full of love and trust as he took Azula into his arms and laid her back, his lips meeting her passionately.

Azula's exaggerated groans and moans of pleasure nearly drove Yue to edge of her sanity, her fists clenching hard enough to make the bones pop.

Her fingers twitched in the preparation of making a water blade, before her sense came rushing back. _Wait! The first words she said to me were an answer…to a question I thought! This is all an illusion!_

She straightened her back and faced the moaning illusion with determined steel in her eyes. "This isn't real. I _know _Naruto, and he would never do something like that, not for all the riches in the world. So you can take your illusionary Ember Throne and shove it up your ass!" She shouted in an uncharacteristic curse.

The illusion raised an eyebrow at her, speaking softly. "Illusion? Interesting…"

The two faded away, revealing two rotting tree trunks, one lying on top of the other. Yue narrowed her eyes, thoughts racing. She then turned away from the logs and marched off in a random direction. _It's time to find the others…I've had enough of this place to last a lifetime._

…

Naruto dropped from the tree branch with a frown marring his face. _This is useless! I can't even see anything from the trees!_

Fog began to drift from the swamp, covering everything in a misty blanket. Naruto sighed in annoyance and began to trudge through the swamp.

As he trudged he heard whispers, echoing throughout the forest.

"_Naruto…"_

The blonde whipped around, seeing nothing that could say his name. "Who's there?" He called out.

"_No! Not Naruto! Not my son!"_

A feminine voice cried through the fog. Naruto couldn't find where the voice originated from, his head twisting on his neck dangerously. "Who are you?!"

"_Damn you! I will find you, bastard! Nothing will keep me from my son!"_

This time, it was a male voice, deep and angry.

"_Hah! With your strength as low as it is, you couldn't kill an ant! So much for your famous speed!"_

Another male, this time higher and triumphant. "What is going on?!" Naruto shouted in agonizing confusion.

"_Your son will make the perfect weapon! It will take time, but your end will come from the hands of your son! A fitting end to you, don't you agree?"_

"_You son of a bitch! I don't care who you are, you won't harm a hair on my son!"_

"_There is nothing you can do about it! Ahahaha!"_

It seemed to be two men arguing over him, or someone with his name, while a woman cried in the background. The sounds faded at the other man's laughter, before being replaced by another.

"_You will be the perfect weapon, Naruto. Even if we have to torture you for it, I will swing the first whip and drive the first nail. And when you are through destroying your father, I will release you from your life, I promise."_

This man had deeper, but older voice, and he almost seemed regretful. He was replaced by a younger, feminine voice that was similar.

"_Naruto…I'm so sorry. Grampa found out about my visits, and he threatened to hurt you if I didn't stop…I'm so, so sorry…but this is goodbye."_

And then, a deep, deep voice that seemed ageless, sad and forlorn spoke in a weary tone.

"_I'm so tired, Naruto. So tired of being a captive…a slave. I just want to leave this world and move on…but there is only one way to do that…follow the gestures I make, and repeat after me…I know he won't harm you, young one. And for what it's worth…I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough."_

And then finally, a duo of voices, a very young one and another that echoed oddly, spoke last.

"_This is not the type of deal you can go back on, you know."_

"_I know…and I don't care. I want to be free, I want to be a hero…I want to live!"_

"_Very well…is that your choice?"_

"_Yes!"_

"_Then, you have my respect. I wish you good luck, Naruto."_

Naruto's face was creased in confusion, disturbing feelings and, oddly happiness. "What…what THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" He screamed at the trees. As he expected, they didn't answer, well, not immediately.

"_I LOVE NARUTO! AND NOTHING YOU CAN SAY WILL MAKE ME ABANDON HIM!"_

A familiar female voice shouted from his left. Without pause, he dashed through the vines, unheeding of the damage he left behind.

Naruto burst through a thicket, coming upon Katara, her clothes stained and slightly ripped, looking at a tree trunk in confusion. He voiced a concerned question. "Katara?"

Katara jumped in surprise, turning to him with a face full of surprise, before steely determination entered her eyes. She marched up to him, and without preamble, grabbed him by the collar and pulled him into one of the most passionate kisses he had ever felt.

She seemed determined to prove something, her tongue forcing itself between his lips and into his mouth, twisting with his own and tying them together.

Naruto was so surprised that he didn't have the higher brain function available to respond. Luckily, his lower cognitive functions kicked in and reciprocated, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to him, as if trying to meld them together.

When they broke apart, Naruto asked breathlessly, "Not that I mind, but what was that about?"

Katara looked him dead in the eye and said seriously. "Myself. I've been lying to myself since we first met."

He gave her a confused look, and she expounded her thoughts. "The first time I saw you, I thought you were the most handsome man on earth. The way you complimented me, the way you acted around me, and the way you treated me only confirmed that. And all that time, I told myself that it was 'just a crush', and that it would fade in time…but after spending all the time with you that I have, it never faded. It grew stronger. And now, I'm going to tell you the truth."

She pulled his head down, leveling a dead-serious look into his eyes. "I. Love. You. I love you, Naruto, and I am going to be by your side whether you want me or not…because you are the man I want to spend the rest of my life with."

Naruto was speechless. This was the fourth time a woman had confessed to loving him, but the only time a woman had practically told him that she was going to marry him, like it or not.

It was kinda hot.

"A-re you-isn't this a little fast?" Naruto stuttered.

Katara shook her head resolutely. "Life is short, and we're in a war that's gone on for a hundred years, and we're trying to end it. There might not be enough time later, and waiting any longer would just make me doubt myself. I love you, and there is nothing that you can say to change that, ever."

Naruto searched her soul through her dark blue eyes, finding what he was searching for after a moment as a wide smiled broke over his face. "I've been waiting to hear you say that, Katara. There is nothing I would ever want to say to make you change your love. And I promise, I will always cherish you and keep you happy."

She wrapped her hands around his shoulders as he tightened his grip on her waist and kissed him again, happy tears trailing from her eyes as she felt her heart swell with affection.

A rustle in the bushes made them separate and ready weapons. The vines parted to reveal a slightly battered Sokka, thorn-torn clothes and branch-pulled hair giving him a wild appearance. "Katara!"

"Sokka!" She yelled in relief. They ran at and hugged each other happily, spinning each other around. "Oh, I'm so glad you're alright!"

The bushes rustled again, this time showing Yue pushing through the branches. "Naruto!" She shouted happily.

"Yue!" He shouted back, grabbing her in a tight hug and lifting her into the air. He put her down just as Katara smashed into her in a strong hug, as Sokka did the same to Naruto.

"Naruto, old buddy!" He cheered happily, before coming back to his senses and letting go quickly. "Ahem…I mean, good to see you unharmed, my fellow warrior!"

Naruto shook his hand firmly. "Good to see you survived, Sokka."

The others traded hugs again, before they became serious. "We need to find Aang," Naruto said. "We should stick together, it'll be hard to find each other again in this swamp."

They nodded in agreement and Sokka warned, "We should also watch out for that swamp monster, no telling when it will pop up again."

The blonde's eyebrows shot up. "Swamp monster?"

…

Aang climbed a branch, sliding down the other side to land in the swamp. Fog had begun to roll in, making visibility even worse.

A small breeze ruffled Aang's collar, before a stronger one blew it over his head.

The bald monk struggled with the orange cloth for a few seconds before pulling it back down, turning around and seeing someone he never thought he'd see again.

Monk Gyatso, his teacher and very best friend…

…and also dead for a several decades.

"Gyatso!" Aang called out in surprise. The old, wrinkled monk chuckled gently, opening his arms for a hug.

"It's so good to see you Aang."

The younger Airbender appeared in front of Gyatso, slamming into him with great force. He didn't really care that he had seen the old monk's skeleton, he was just happy to see him again.

"Gyatso…how are you here? I saw…I saw your body…" Aang trailed off.

He laughed lightly. "When one is old and wise enough, they realize that Spirits are strange things."

Aang peered up at the Master Airbender with teary eyes. "Why are you here?"

Gyatso sighed wearily. "Aang, I came to talk to you about something. Our way of life."

"What do you mean?" He asked confusedly.

The old monk seemed to age even more. "When you were among us, we taught you that taking life, no matter how small, was a crime. And the Fire Nation made our people pay for it, over and over again."

Aang gazed warily at him. "What are you saying? That I should kill everyone who gives me trouble?!"

"No, no, Aang, you misunderstand. What I'm trying to say is, times change. We thought that isolating ourselves would solve our problems with others, but it only led to our destruction. One of your friends has a saying, the blonde I think, that goes like this: 'Some people aren't worth saving.'" Gyatso explained.

Aang thought back to that, how he felt when he heard that. "Are you saying that Naruto's right?"

The old monk nodded. "I am. He is very wise, young Aang. He has seen many things, and he has good advice. Trust your friends, Aang. They will be the deciding factor on ending this war."

Aang smiled and hugged the monk tightly. "I will…I promise."

"_I know you will, Aang…you've always made me proud…"_

The Avatar opened his eyes, finding himself hugging a tree. He smiled sadly. "Thank you, tree."

A girlish giggle sounded from behind him, making him whip around to find the source. He saw a flash of white disappear behind a tree, and he followed after it quickly. "Hey, wait!"

Aang came around the tree, only to see nothing but the swamp. Another giggle came from behind him, and he turned to see, again, a flash of white pass behind a tree.

He chased after it, coming into a clearing and finding the source. It was girl, older than him by about two years if he was to guess, wearing a white, expensive looking robe, betting a boar with white wings.

She giggled as it licked her hand, before it flew off, and she ran away.

Aang followed her speedily, coming around a wide tree trunk, coming face-to-mask with the swamp creature. "That's not a girl!" Aang yelled in surprise.

The monster extended one of it's arms at Aang, trying to hit him. The young Airbender twirled his staff and sent a blade of air at the arm, severing it close to the middle.

The creature looked at it's arm, uncaring as the vines grew back. It attacked again, forcing Aang to dodge the wild yet coordinated swings of it's arms.

A fire ball impacted into the back of the creature, making it pause it's attacks and turn around, spotting Naruto, Sokka, Yue and Katara bearing down on it, attacks ready.

"Let's take this thing down!" Sokka shouted.

Yue and Katara sliced at the creature with water pulled from the swamp, only for the vines to grow back.

Aang sent a blade of air cutting through the back of the creature, and the vines parted slightly to reveal tanned skin, that was quickly covered by vines again.

He watched carefully as Naruto cut through the creature with an ivory blade, seeing more skin, this time with a belly button on the front.

"I think there's a person in there!" Aang shouted to the group.

The others shot him a questioning look, before turning an angry gaze at the creature. "What the hell? Why are you attacking us?" Yue yelled at the monster.

"Why don' you ask my fist, loggers!" the creature yelled back in an unrefined and male voice.

"Loggers?" the group asked each other. "We're not loggers." Aang said slowly.

"You're not?" It asked.

"No, not really. Aang's the Avatar; harming nature is kinda against his nature." Sokka explained.

"Oh! The Avatar!" The Swamp Creature exclaimed, before the vines collapsed like cut puppets, revealing a man underneath.

He had shaggy grey hair and dirty tanned skin, and wore nothing but a stained and old loincloth. "I didn't realize you were you! Welcome to Boggy Swamp! My name is Tho!" He greeted with a wide smile showing all of his dirty, cracked teeth.

Yue leaned into Naruto and whispered, "He does know that a bog is basically a swamp, right?"

Naruto shook his head. "I doubt it, but don't tell him. I don't think he cares."

…

Hours later, the group had found Appa being hunted by the local Waterbenders, tribe of leaf-wearing, country-sounding, dirty and unintelligent swamp-dwellers who could all use a bath in fresh water.

That night, after clearing up the point that Appa was not, in fact, food, the Gaang feasted (liberal term) on the local fare, consisting of bugs and fish.

As they lay down to rest for the night, Aang asked a question that he just remembered. "Wait, do you know who made the tornado that pulled us out of the sky?"

Tho shrugged happily. "Ain't no Airbenders around these parts, just me and the Tribe."

The Gaang glanced at each other in confusion. The dirty hermit smiled widely. "Tho, if'n you stay here a long time, like meself, you realize that the forest isself is alive."

He laughed uproariously as the Gaang lay down for bed, questions unanswered.

Naruto lay on his back, peering at the stars visible through the canopy of the trees. _Who am I, really? Where did I come from? Why can I do, what I can do?_

His thoughts turned slightly dark. _Do I really want to know?_

***Naruto was making a joke. He knows the difference between Mai and Tai Lee.**

**A/N: Here's the third chapter to the New Element. I hope you like it!**

**As you can see, Suki will be paired with Sokka. I just thought they would fit together the right way.**

**Answers to questions:**

**June in the harem is up for debate. She'll be involved, but either as sex-pals or a pairing has yet to be seen. I've been trying to go for a more romance-over-time kind of pairings, instead of my old 'I just met you-but I've loved you for a long time-instantly in love' kind of pairings, hopefully to add drama and suspense to my stories. **

**Also, no lemons. My writing ability has not gotten to the point where I could write it the right way, being emotionally involving and all. **

**Naruto's ability to bend seemingly everything will be explained, but not just yet, as it would spoil all of the story. It has a deep impact on the future, so expect to see it then.**

**Also, I'm kind of torn between having Aang paired with the girl from the Fortune Teller episode, or Anji from the Fire Nation Academy episode. I think they would fit well together.**

**Next chapter, Toph enters the picture! The Blind Bandit vs. the ex-Assassin White Hawk!**

**Enjoy your day and review!**

**Keep Being Awesome!**

**-Soleneus**


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